When the U.S. Space Force activated Space Forces Southern at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in January, Commander Col. Brandon Alford affirmed a simple and powerful idea for the newly established organization: One hemisphere, stronger together.

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Eight months later, around a dozen representatives from nations across South America and Africa attended the 2026 Space Doctrine Conference at the University of Arizona, collaborating as a single regional effort led by Space Forces Southern to secure joint activities and assets in space. 

"This conference is about building the ‘how’ alongside each and every one of you," Lt. Col. Daniel Morales, Space Forces Southern Director of Plans and Exercises, said. “We are in this together – this is our neighborhood. This is our family."

Space Forces Southern is the space component of the U.S. Southern Command that oversees U.S. military activity across Latin America. U.S. Space Force officials cited two factors in choosing the U of A to host a conference of this magnitude: the university’s premier leadership in space science and the ability of the U of A Kyl Institute for National Security to bridge operational needs and strategic policy.

The conference, held from Aug. 31 through Sept. 3, was designed predominately as a working group. Briefings and small-group sessions discussed how to build upon each nation's strengths and address their individual needs to coordinate space programs across the Western Hemisphere.

Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay sent delegations, while representatives from Angola and Nigeria participated as observing nations. The African partners’ attendance was initiated during the Space Conference of the Americas in April, where all SCA attendees were present for the initial announcement and invitation. Following formal requests from their respective military groups, both nations joined the Space Doctrine Conference, representing the conference’s reach beyond the Western Hemisphere. 

Leaders and staff from the Department of War, interagency partners, commercial space companies and academia sat beside counterparts from partner nations to collectively maximize interoperability in space.

Retired U.S. Air Force General Robin Rand, president and CEO of the Kyl Institute, told the delegations that his four decades in the military, which included serving as commander of Air Forces Southern and Air Force Global Strike Command, left him with a lasting attachment to each partner nation represented. 

“I am always astonished at how similar our values are across the U.S. and South America,” Rand said. “We must work with partners and friends to provide an umbrella for our countries to preserve our freedoms in this contested domain.”

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Building the “how” together

The conference set out to define and structure Space Centers of Excellence, or S-COE, around each nation's existing expertise, synchronize next steps between U.S. and its partners and drive doctrine development.

“This multinational effort builds the framework for how our militaries will work together long term," Alford said. “Each nation brings different experience and expertise to the table, and these centers will help us build on those strengths, learn from one another, and develop a common approach to operating together in the space domain. What we establish here will shape our future cooperation.”

Doctrine is a nation's agreed-upon best practices for how it organizes and employs its forces. It stands as official advice that shapes training, planning, exercises and joint procedures. Several nations in attendance began developing space doctrine for the first time, with U.S. doctrine offered as a guiding resource.

“Different cultural implementation allows us different perspectives to solve problems, so we are not here to tell you what you need to do," Morales said. "How you want to integrate doctrine, based on your priorities and national objectives, is completely up to you."

The S-COE initiative is a means for carrying doctrine development, education, training and integration forward. An S-COE is a recognized hub of knowledge and expertise where space professionals connect and share what they know within a single subject area, whether that is space domain awareness – the ability to monitor and understand objects and activity in space – or satellite communications or spacecraft positioning and navigation. 

The goal is for centers to reinforce one another, so no nation is left to build everything on its own.

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Individual country briefings revealed common ground between South American delegations, with most already having education or training programs running, and some with foundational space domain awareness initiatives in place. Nations sought to expand their space workforce, create large-scale sensor networks, conduct advanced technical training, develop secure data sharing capabilities and further interoperability with the U.S. Space Force and partner nations.

Angola, an observer at an earlier stage, came seeking guidance to expand its space capabilities and, in time, become a regional S-COE within Africa.

Academia already pointed south

The U of A offers a place to start. The Kyl Institute serves as the connection point between the university’s research enterprise and its national security partners, with space being its primary focus area. Both Rand and Morales encouraged nations to partner with the university and use its expertise as a strategic resource. 

Carmala Garzione, dean of the university's College of Science, cited the U of A’s century-long legacy in space – from mapping the moon to sampling asteroids, observing early galaxies and expanding technological boundaries. This legacy, though, is also a shared one.

"Perhaps the most important part is that we have never done it alone,” Garzione said. “Collaboration across disciplines and borders is critical."

Delegates toured the Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium and the Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab, where the largest telescope mirrors in the world are cast and polished before shipping to Chilean observatories, including the Magellan Telescopes, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and the Giant Magellan Telescope.

For Morales, who first came to the University of Arizona as a NASA Space Grant intern more than 20 years ago, the week served a much larger purpose beyond telescope delivery.

"The most important thing we can deliver is trust and friendship, and that takes time to build," he said. "For me, this investment is for life – a long-term relationship with our partner nations that manifests itself on an interpersonal and organizational level."

No matter the political and global changes that may take place in the near future, Morales stressed that this particular level of international space cooperation must persist and continue to move forward.