US Space Force, Japan Launch Sensor to Bolster Space Surveillance Above Indo-Pacific

US and Japan Complete Space Surveillance Network With Second Sensor on Navigation Satellite

WASHINGTON — A Japanese H-3 rocket lifted off from Tanegashima Space Center on Aug. 10, 2026, carrying more than just another navigation satellite. Tucked aboard Quasi-Zenith Satellite 7 sat a U.S. Space Force sensor. Its job: watch geosynchronous orbit high above the Indo-Pacific. This was no solo mission. It marked the successful finish of a quiet but significant partnership. The two countries have now placed American-owned space domain awaren…

Japan launches second US military payload to monitor space above Indo-Pacific

The data from the hosted payloads on QZS-7 and its predecessor QZS-6 will feed into the US Space Surveillance Network operated by the 18th Space Defense Squadron.

US Space Force, Japan launch sensor to bolster space surveillance above Indo-Pacific

In a bilateral space effort, the U.S. Space Force successfully launched a Space Domain Awareness payload aboard Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite 7.

U.S. and Japan Strengthen Space Security Alliance with Second SDA Payload Launch Aboard QZS-7

A U.S. Space Domain Awareness payload hosted on Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite 7 successfully launched aboard Japan's H3 launch vehicle on August 10, 2026. The mission marked the H3 vehicle's second consecutive successful launch following its December 2025 mission failure.

U.S. Space Force and Japan Complete QZSS Hosted-Payload Program with Launch of QZS

On August 10, 2026, a Japanese H-3 launch vehicle lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center carrying Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite 7 (QZS-7) spacecraft, which hosts an optical Space Domain Awareness […]

U.S. Space Force and Japan complete QZSS hosted-payload launches to strengthen monitoring of geosynchronous orbit over Indo-Pacific

QZS-7 launched aboard a Japanese H-3 rocket from Tanegashima Space Center on Aug. 10. The mission completes the two-launch QZSS-HP programme, which the Space Force describes as the first bilateral U.S.-Japan space cooperation effort focused on national security. The U.S. payload will be operated by Combat Forces Command’s Mission Delta 2, which conducts space domain awareness operations for the Space Force and U.S. Space Command. Its mission inc…