Summary: Second launch successfully completed in first-ever bilateral U.S. Japan cooperative space effort. Allied partnership enables better management and protection of space assets, ensuring a more secure and reliable space environment. Combat Forces Command’s Mission Delta 2 to operate.
TANEGASHIMA, Japan: A U.S. Space Domain Awareness payload hosted on Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite 7 (QZS-7) successfully launched on a Japanese H-3 launch vehicle from Tanegashima Space Center (TNSC) in Japan on August 10, 2026. This is the final of the two launches that are part of the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System-Hosted Payload (QZSS-HP) program, the first bilateral U.S. Japan cooperative space effort focused on national security.
The U.S. payload will be operated by Combat Forces Command’s Mission Delta 2 (MD2), which conducts Space Domain Awareness operations to identify, characterize, and exploit opportunities and mitigate vulnerabilities in the national security space terrain on behalf of the U.S. Space Force and U.S. Space Command. The payload will deliver near real time data to the Space Surveillance Network bolstering the U.S. Department of War (DoW) understanding of the Geosynchronous Orbit regime above the Indo-Pacific region.
“The successful launch of QZS-7 is a powerful testament to the enduring strength and rapid modernization of the U.S.-Japan alliance. By continuing to merge our capabilities in space modernization and satellite communications, we are maintaining security in a contested space domain and fortifying our shared deterrence capabilities across the Indo-Pacific region,” said USSF Col. Bryon McClain, Space Force portfolio acquisition executive for Space Combat Power.
“QZSS-HP is a key contributor to help us meet the threat of peer adversaries in space and build towards resilient capabilities to detect, understand, and maintain custody of objects in deep space,” said USSF Col. Gina Peterson, deputy commander of Mission Delta 2 – Space Domain Awareness.
The QZSS-HP program encompasses the interoperability, launch, and operations of two U.S. payloads hosted on Japanese satellites. This U.S.-Japan space partnership builds upon trust while increasing space security and upholding international space law and shared values. In preparation for launch, the USSF and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory (MIT LL) teams have worked side-by-side with the National Space Policy Secretariat (NSPS) and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO) teams in Japan over the past two years to integrate and test the hosted payload alongside its Japanese QZS-7 host.
Both U.S. payloads for this mission were designed and built by MIT LL in Lexington, MA. The Japanese host Quasi-Zenith Satellites were designed and built by MELCO in Kamakura, Japan to augment the U.S. global positioning system (GPS) capabilities in the region. The U.S. payload, referred to as the QZSS-HP, utilizes the Multi-Mission Space Operations Center/Enterprise Command and Control – Schriever enclave located in Colorado.
The strategic partnership between the USSF and Japan's NSPS originated through a December 2020 international agreement to jointly execute the QZSS-HP program.
"The U.S.-Japan Alliance is one of our greatest strategic advantages in the Pacific," said USSF Brig. Gen. Brian Denaro, commander, U.S. Space Forces Pacific. "The QZSS-Hosted Payload program demonstrates how we enhance security across the Pacific. From design through launch, this milestone reflects years of collaboration that strengthen our resilience, enhance interoperability, and reinforce the alliance's ability to deliver operational advantage across our combined and joint forces. Partnerships like this don't simply produce new capabilities, they build the trust, integration, and readiness that strengthen deterrence, reinforce our collective security, and preserve freedom of action in, from, and to space."
Space Systems Command
Space Systems Command is the U.S. Space Force field command responsible for acquiring, developing, and delivering resilient capabilities to outpace emerging threats and protect our Nation’s strategic advantage in, from, and to space. SSC manages a $15.6 billion annual space acquisition budget for the Department of War, working with joint forces, industry partners, government agencies, academia, and allied nations. For more information, visit ssc.spaceforce.mil and follow @USSF-SSC on LinkedIn.
The Space Force Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Space Combat Power develops, delivers, and sustains cyber, ground- and space-based combat power capabilities to contest and control the space domain through fires, movement, and maneuver, preserving U.S., Allied and commercial freedom of action in, from, and to space. The SCP PAE provides overarching acquisition authority and oversight for capability procurement across a broad portfolio. System Delta 89 leads the development and delivery while the sustainment squadrons in CFC Mission Delta 3, 6, and 9 maintain the delivered capability.
Combat Forces Command, one of three Field Commands, is the U.S. Space Force’s Service Force Provider. CFC is focused on generating and presenting combat-ready forces capable of achieving space superiority; fortifying mission resiliency and grit through self, family, and installation readiness; and advocating for combat-ready spacepower from the future force to the fielded force. CFC encompasses eight distinct, but integrated mission and space deltas and three space base deltas focused on Space Domain Awareness; Space Electromagnetic Warfare; Missile Warning and Tracking; Cyberspace Warfare; Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Targeting; Satellite Communications; Orbital Warfare; and Navigational Warfare.
Mission Delta 2 conducts Space Domain Awareness (SDA) operations to identify, characterize, and exploit opportunities and mitigate vulnerabilities in the national security space terrain on behalf of the United States Space Force and United States Space Command. Mission Delta 2 is headquartered at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado and is one of the most geographically dispersed deltas in the U.S. Space Force, having a presence at 11 operating locations.
Media representatives may submit questions for response regarding SSC and SCP PAE by sending an e-mail to sscpa.media@spaceforce.mil
Media representatives may submit questions for response regarding CFC and MD 2 by sending an e-mail to spoc.pa.media@spaceforce.mil
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