By Stephanie Dwilson | 2025-02-04

The US Space Force (USSF) is ramping up its global presence to expand cooperation with allies and confront potential space warfare threats from adversaries.

USSF–Central said it broke ground January 14 on a new Space Campus at al-Udeid air base in Qatar, marking a major step in boosting its operational capabilities and reinforcing security partnerships in the region.

This "represents the ever-growing partnership between the United States and Qatar, a bond forged in trust and strengthened year by year since the 1990s," Col. Frank Brooks, USSF–Central deputy commander, said at the groundbreaking ceremony.

"This complex will soon become a beacon for the vital space systems and operations that underpin US CENTCOM [Central Command]'s mission of promoting stability, security and partnership across the region," he added. "It will stand as a testament to our shared vision for a safer, more secure world."

Al-Udeid air base hosts the headquarters for US Central Command Forward, US Air Forces Central Command, the US Special Operations Command Central Command Forward, the Combined Joint Interagency Task Force — Syria, US Central Command's Combined Air Operations Center and the US Air Force's 379th Air Expeditionary Wing.

Working with Qatar

The Space Campus represents the latest step in security cooperation between the United States and Qatar.

In October 2023, the Qatari military and US Space Command signed a Space Situational Awareness data-sharing agreement, paving the way for the exchange of critical information to strengthen the stability and security of the space domain.

Qatar was also invited to attend the Global Sentinel event at Vandenberg Space Force Base as an observer nation in 2024. In addition, the first deployed Space Force members served out of al-Udeid in 2020, marking a historic step for the new branch of the military.

"This group is making history ... For our nation, we must not just be present in space, but we must be a leader in space," US Air Force Col. Todd Benson, director of Space Forces for US Air Forces Central Command, said at the time.

Facing Beijing and Moscow

The groundbreaking for the Space Campus in Qatar comes amid developments in space-warfare technology by Beijing and Moscow.

The threats underscore the need for greater cooperation with allies as well as an increase in investment for the USSF to maintain the United States' strategic advantage in space, officials say.

"The adversary is quickly shrinking that gap, and we have got to change the way we approach space pretty rapidly," USSF Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael Guetlein said in December at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, according to Space News.

"Today that capability gap is in our favor, but if it goes negative on us, it's going to be a really bad day."