By John Fernando Muñoz | 2026-06-30

US Space Force's newest regional command, Space Forces Southern (SPACEFOR-SOUTH), is designed to integrate US space capabilities with partner nations across Central America, South America and the Caribbean.

Formally activated in January at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, SPACEFOR-SOUTH serves as the dedicated space component to US Southern Command, which focuses on security and operational objectives in Latin America.

Tasked with integrating space power for regional security, deterrence and stability, the new force formalizes and elevates the coordination of space operations across the Western Hemisphere.

It signals strengthening US cooperation with emerging space nations across the Global South, from the Andes to the Pacific atolls and the African continent, where the US seeks to become a preferred partner.

In developing countries across the Global South, satellite data has become a survival tool -- tracking cyclones, mapping flood risk and connecting remote areas. Yet limited budgets leave many dependent on foreign powers for access.

Through joint military programs and frameworks such as the Artemis Accords, a non-binding framework grounded in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty that is co-led by the US State Department and NASA, the US is positioning itself as a reliable ally.

As of mid-2026, the accords count more than 60 signatories, including Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Argentina.

Each signature has tended to bring tangible follow-through, via technology-sharing arrangements, training exchanges and new bilateral working groups.

This has transformed what began as a statement of principles into an active pipeline for capacity-building across the region.

Complicated diplomacy in Brazil

SPACEFOR-SOUTH in February visited a commercial radar site in the United States to evaluate how commercially available radar data can be integrated into military systems.

The site visit focused on integrating private-sector radar technologies into military systems to enhance space domain awareness and expand tracking capabilities across Central, South America and the Caribbean.

The goal was to improve orbital tracking, monitor risks to assets, and secure civil navigation networks through enhanced data sharing with regional partners.

During an April visit to the University of Arizona's Kyl Institute for National Security, SPACEFOR-SOUTH personnel invited the institute to join space domain working groups in partner nations.

"This strategy directly supports allied nations by building a robust aerospace education base and accelerating the growth of their sovereign space ecosystems, ensuring our collective security and shared interests in the hemisphere," said SPACEFOR-SOUTH acting deputy commander Lt. Col. Benton Enomoto.

The arrangement is explicitly framed as a two-way exchange.

Partner nations gain access to space domain data they could not otherwise collect on their own, while the US gains ground-level observation points in parts of the hemisphere where its own sensor network has had sparse coverage.

This fills gaps in tracking both civilian and military activity in orbit.

Yet Brazil illustrates just how complicated this diplomacy can get.

In April, Brazilian Air Force officers met with US Space Command leadership for talks centered on expanding Brazilian participation in the US Space Command framework.

Emphasis was placed on the Military Personnel Exchange Program and strengthening the US-Brazil space partnership.

Brazil has been simultaneously deepening a parallel relationship with Beijing, however, and is now finding itself at a crossroads between the two world powers.

In December, the central structure of the BINGO radio telescope, considered the largest in South America, was shipped from the Chinese port of Tianjin to Brazil, with completion expected in 2026.

Beyond research, the Chinese state developer says the instrument also will be capable of tracking satellites and other celestial bodies.

A US congressional report circulating in June alleged that China-linked space projects in South America give Beijing a channel to observe and influence Brazilian military space doctrine.

At the same time, these projects are helping China establish a permanent presence in a region vital to US national security.

Neither dependent nor controlled

On the African continent, as well, the space sector is no longer a side activity.

More than 21 African countries have established space programs, and 18 have launched at least one satellite, together accounting for 65 satellites already in orbit and more than 120 additional ones in development through 2030.

In December, the US State Department's Bureau of African Affairs held the first in a series of technical and regulatory training sessions ahead of the NewSpace Africa Conference, held in April in Gabon.

This was part of a broader effort to strengthen African-led space capabilities and position the US as a long-term partner in the continent's development.

Ambassador Jonathan Pratt defined the goal directly: to help African nations build "locally owned, financially sound, and internationally aligned" space programs that are not "dependent, opaque, or controlled by outside actors."

NewSpace Africa provided an opportunity for nations to formulate regional partnerships and facilitate deals that propel the African space industry forward.

There was a significant Chinese presence at the conference, where China and Somalia signed an agreement on satellite imaging cooperation and companies promoted satellite manufacturing and AI-enabled Earth observation systems.

The China Academy of Space Technology -- a subordinate entity of state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation -- highlighted its engagements in various African countries in a keynote address.

Beijing says it is helping boost African space programs because it wants no country left behind, Reuters reported February 1, as Chinese officials handed over a satellite ground station to Namibia outside its capital, Windhoek.

But China's aid projects are giving it access to a broader surveillance network as it seeks space dominance, the report said.

Beijing can tap data and images collected from satellites, telescopes and ground stations it has provided African countries, it added, noting that Chinese personnel maintain a long-term presence in facilities Beijing builds in Africa.

Pacific space alliances

The US effort to deepen space-linked partnerships with the Global South also extends to the Pacific Islands.

Last September, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau held a roundtable in Papua New Guinea, where he announced that the US was "reinvigorating" its partnership with Pacific Island nations and "re-aligning" mutual priorities.

Space domain awareness sits at the center of that reinvigorated relationship.

At the Australian Space Summit & Exhibition 2025 in Sydney, US Space Forces Indo-Pacific leadership emphasized the importance of space domain awareness, satellite protection and developing technologies to counter emerging threats.

They described this effort as "building a legacy" that fortifies shared values across the region's partner nations.

The stakes are not abstract for islands whose populations depend on satellite connectivity for survival, rather than convenience.

After a volcanic eruption and tsunami severed Tonga's communications, a SpaceX team deployed to nearby Fiji to help re-establish connectivity using the Starlink constellation.

Meanwhile, a separate United Nations team provided small satellites and telecommunications support to restore service.

The episode became a case study in how quickly satellite access can mean the difference between isolation and recovery for a Pacific nation cut off from the rest of the world.

US Space Command leadership has warned that China's growing military threat in the Indo-Pacific and expanding capabilities in the space domain are driving the need for integrated partnerships to preserve regional stability.

For island nations such as Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Tonga, that competition creates an array of choices: whose satellites to rely on, whose maritime patrols to welcome, and whose technical training to accept.

Each carries its own strategic benefits or risks.