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Abstract
Space security has reemerged as a salient policy issue as space systems become increasingly central to military operations, economic activity, and societal resilience. Recent events, including Russia’s cyberattacks on commercial space systems used by Ukraine, have underscored how vulnerable modern societies are to disruption in space services, and how blurred the lines have become between civil, commercial, and military uses of space. For the United States, advancing space security objectives depends on deterring near-peer competitors and building coalitions that advance responsible behavior and operational best practices. Latin American actors have become central to this effort in U.S. national security discussions. The region combines a long tradition of engagement in multilateral space governance with growing reliance on space-based services and strategically valuable geography for space operations. Yet U.S. engagement has often been piecemeal and risks being constrained by assumptions that regional diplomatic positions or space cooperation projects with U.S. adversaries signal limited alignment with U.S. space security priorities. This report challenges that assumption. Through a comparative analysis of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico, it demonstrates that space security perspectives in the region are not monolithic national positions but the product of distinct institutional voices—diplomatic, civil/technical, and defense— whose priorities and threat perceptions differ, adding complexity but opening potential new avenues of engagement with U.S. entities.