Yokota Air Base, Japan. (May 15, 2025): In the sixties, most American youngsters could be found building and launching rockets in their back yard, dreaming of the day they too would travel into space. In this photo by Airman 1st Class David S. Calcot, Space Force Lieutenant Colonel Kaoru Elliott, second from left, Deputy Commander of U.S. Space Forces-Japan and Nikki Palmer, a Space Systems Command chief engineer, watch model rocket launches with Yokota West Elementary School students. The event is part of the American military’s science, technology, engineering, and math education (STEM) outreach program. A Space Systems Command team visited Defense Department schools overseas for the first time to expand its outreach beyond the continental U.S. and reinforce its commitment to engaging military-students in the hard sciences.

The U.S. Space Force, established in 2019, is America's newest military service branch responsible for space surveillance, missile warnings and tracking of satellites and space debris. The agency has recently expanded its footprint in the Indo-Pacific region, with bases established in Japan and South Korea in 2022. These new field commands will counter evolving threats from China, North Korea, and Russia who are developing space capabilities that are hostile to U.S. and allied interests.

The Chinese have been actively testing anti-satellite systems while the North Koreans have conducted several missile tests recently, including a launch of suspected hypersonic and short-range ballistic missiles. One launch was fired towards the Sea of Japan (East Sea) that reportedly reached a distance of five hundred miles from the Japanese coast.

The Russians also conducted an anti-satellite missile test to destroy one of its derelict satellites in orbit, creating massive and long-lasting space debris that could put other satellites and space missions at risk. The explosion generated more than 1,500 pieces of trackable orbital debris and will likely generate hundreds of thousands of pieces of smaller orbital debris. The debris field poses a significant risk to the crew of the International Space Station and any future manned spaceflight.

The United States, Japan, and South Korea, meanwhile, have been increasing their trilateral cooperation having fully activated a real-time information-sharing system for missiles launched by Pyongyang in December 2023. These cooperative efforts have resulted in the first U.S./Japan satellite launch earlier this month to help track space objects and to predict potential threats.

While the children at Yokota Elementary dream of the day they will travel to space, America’s Space Force rocketeers will continue to keep them safe.