US and Allies strengthen space cooperation during Global Sentinel exercise

Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, News, US February 23, 2024 , by IRIA No Comments

The United States hosted participants from 24 partner states for Space Command’s exercise “Global Sentinel” at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Space operators from 25 partner nations participated in the Global Sentinel exercise that focused on security cooperation and operational collaboration in the frontier warfare domain.

Global Sentinel is the U.S. Space Command’s premier security cooperation effort, designed to strengthen international partnerships, improve operational collaboration, and promote responsible behavior in the space domain.

This year the U.S. space operators joined the participants from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Germany, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Israel, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Thailand, and Ukraine.

During the last two days of the exercise, operators from Mexico and India also attended as observers along with representatives from the NATO alliance. 

According to the U.S. Department of Defense statement, “International partnerships and cooperation among allies are key components of the United States’ strategy to deter conflict and reinforce safety and stability in space.”

The Pentagon statement highlighted that “Each participating nation organized into Regional Space Operations Centers aligned to maintain command and control across an array of space sensors.”

During the exercise, different scenarios were designed to improve space situational awareness and strengthen interoperability among the participating nations.

^{Global Sentinel participants work together to solve challenging space scenarios during Global Sentinel 2024 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., on February 15, 2024. (Image Credit: U.S. Space Force/Tech. Sgt. Luke Kitterman)}

The assistant secretary of defense for space policy, John F. Plumb highlighted the important role of cooperation among allies as global competitors increasingly look to space as the next frontier of warfare. Plumb said that partnerships are key to building “an asymmetric advantage and force multiplier that neither China nor Russia could ever hope to match.”

Global Sentinel was first held in 2014 with the participation of seven partner nations. Since then the number of participants steadily increased to 25 states from different regions including Europe, Asia-Pacific, and North and South America.

According to the U.S. Space Force, “USSPACECOM and representatives from partner nations come together each year at Global Sentinel to promote cooperation and safe, secure space operations.”

U.S. Space Command established a program “Pathway to Partnerships,” to formulate a method for allies and partners to integrate with the command. The Global Sentinel is one of the programs that enables space situational awareness among allies and enhances integration with the U.S. Space Command.