A US space surveillance payload reached orbit aboard Japan’s QZS-7 navigation satellite, as part of a US-Japan security space program.
A US space surveillance payload has reached orbit aboard Japan’s QZS-7 navigation satellite, completing the launch phase of a bilateral US-Japan national security space program.
QZS-7 lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan aboard a Japanese H3 rocket, carrying the second of two US-built sensors launched under the joint program.
Both sensors are hosted on Japanese satellites but will be operated by the US Space Force.
They will collect near-real-time data on objects in geosynchronous orbit above the Indo-Pacific and transmit it to the US Space Surveillance Network.
Mission Delta 2, the US Space Force unit responsible for space domain awareness, will operate the payload using a command-and-control center at Schriever Space Force Base in Colorado.
“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, US Space Force portfolio acquisition executive for Space Combat Power.
US-Japan Security Space Program
The program began under an agreement signed by Washington and Tokyo in December 2020, covering the integration, launch, and operation of two US payloads aboard Japanese satellites.
Both sensors were developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory.
Mitsubishi Electric built the Japanese host satellites and worked with US and Japanese teams to integrate and test the payloads.
Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System supplements GPS coverage in the Asia-Pacific region.
