USSPACECOM commander, CSEL reinforce partnerships in SOUTHCOM AOR

Published Aug. 6, 2024

PETERSON SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. (AFNS) -- Gen. Stephen Whiting, U.S. Space Command commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Jacob Simmons, USSPACECOM command senior enlisted leader, traveled to Colombia and Argentina to connect with partners in the region July 28 to Aug. 2.

The USSPACECOM leaders started their trip at U.S. Southern Command’s headquarters in Miami, Florida, meeting with U.S. Army Gen. Laura Richardson, USSOUTHCOM commander and U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Rafael Rodriguez, USSOUTHCOM CSEL.

Following their stop in Miami, Whiting and Simmons traveled to Colombia, a nation with which the command has maintained a Space Situational Awareness information sharing agreement with since 2021. The pair met with the commander of the Colombian Air Force Gen. Luis Carlos Córdoba Avendaño and discussed ways their respective militaries can strengthen their partnership and presence in space.

At a press event, Whiting emphasized the enduring U.S.-Colombian relationship, and the value in extending the relationship into the space domain. He specifically highlighted how the command is, “looking in the future to deliver a space track telescope that the Colombian Air Force will be able to use to help track some of those 45,000 objects that are on orbit that we track each and every day.”

Following additional meetings with senior leaders in the Colombian aerospace sector, and a tour of the Colombian Air Force’s Space Operations Center in Cali, Colombia, Whiting and Simmons traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina. During this portion of the visit, they had additional opportunities to meet with Argentine industry and defense personnel with shared goals in space.

“This visit builds positive relations on a partnership between the U.S. and Argentina that is more than 200 years old,” Whiting said. “We have a shared vision to protect and defend the space domain, keeping it safe, secure and sustainable for all of mankind. We see great promise moving forward with the Argentine Ministry of Defense.”

The senior enlisted leader of the command echoed Whiting’s sentiments, citing the importance of strengthening relationships between USSPACECOM and the militaries in Colombia and Argentina to cooperative efforts both now and in the future.

“This trip provided us with an opportunity to increase our interconnectedness and interoperability with indispensable international friends in the southern hemisphere,” Simmons said. “The more we meet with mission partners now, the more we’ll be able to master mission demands in the future.”

This visit builds upon shared commitments to safeguard the domain as well as a number of recent engagements with USSPACECOM.

Colombia and Argentina recently participated in the 2024 Space Conference of Americas in January alongside eight other partner nations and have participated in a number of USSPACECOM planning conferences and collaborative events to align security cooperation activities. Finally, both nations are signatories to the Artemis Accords, a non-legally-binding set of principles designed to guide civil space exploration and use co-led for the United States by the Department of State and the NASA.