Secretary of State Marco Rubio unveiled the State Department’s flagship space diplomacy initiative, the Space Catalyst Partnership, during an official visit to Lima on September 10, 2026. The initiative will direct foreign-assistance funding toward projects that use U.S. space goods and services, making space cooperation a tool for expanding overseas opportunities for American companies. Peru is its first project: a two-year, $6.5 million effort to bring satellite internet to rural communities in the country’s south.
The partnership is open to countries that have signed the Artemis Accords, which Peru joined in 2024. State plans to develop projects through a combination of diplomatic coordination, industry outreach and targeted assistance. It will help partner countries access U.S. space technology and financing, connect American firms with prospective customers, and support purchases of U.S. space goods and services. Officials said the department would also work closely with NASA.
A senior State Department official described the coordinated use of foreign assistance to advance U.S. space industry as a new role for the department. The official linked the initiative to the administration’s goal of making the United States a preferred partner in the Western Hemisphere.
The program also enters a region where China has established space ties, including a deep-space tracking station in Argentina and satellite projects with Bolivia and Venezuela. Asked whether countries receiving assistance through the partnership would be barred from working with Chinese providers, the official said no such restriction exists.
How broadly the initiative can operate remains unclear. State has announced no overall program budget and is working with Congress to match foreign-assistance funds to projects as they take shape. Officials have not named the company that will deliver the Peru satellite internet project or specified when service will begin. The selection of a provider and the development of further funded projects will show how the partnership moves from diplomatic initiative to commercial work.
