U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer and Michael Bennet introduced the Indo-Pacific Space Partnership Act of 2026 on Mar. 27, aiming to broaden the Multinational Force-Operation Olympic Defender (MNF-OOD) coalition by including more Indo-Pacific allies such as Japan and South Korea.
The proposed legislation would require the Chief of Space Operations for the U.S. Space Force to evaluate expanding MNF-OOD, a partnership currently comprising Australia, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The goal is to strengthen coordination in space operations among allied nations in response to growing security challenges.
“Expanding Operation Olympic Defender with allies like Japan and the Republic of Korea makes us stronger together,” Cramer said. “Our coalition boosts deterrence, reinforces resilience, and protects our space infrastructure. By expanding the network to include allies in the same region as some of greatest adversaries and competitors, we are much more capable of countering hostile actions in space.” Bennet said: “As China and Russia rapidly develop advanced space capabilities, the United States must bolster space cooperation with our allies to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific. Bringing additional allies into MNF-OOD will increase resilience, enhance burden-sharing, and reinforce deterrence – strengthening our collective capacity to protect the space assets that underpin our national security and economies.”
The senators point out that recent years have seen successful bilateral maneuvers within MNF-OOD alongside partner nations as part of efforts to improve interoperability, enhance domain awareness in orbit, address debris concerns, and deter hostile activities.
Cramer has been involved in several initiatives related to U.S. defense policy; he serves on Senate committees covering Environment and Public Works, Veterans’ Affairs, Banking Housing & Urban Affairs according to his official website. He previously served three terms as North Dakota’s at-large representative before joining the Senate according to his official website. Cramer grew up in Kindred North Dakota according to his official website, earned degrees from Concordia College (bachelor’s) and University of Mary (master’s) according to his official website, assists constituents with federal agencies according to his official website, has raised five children with his wife Kris according to his official website, enjoys spending time with their eight grandchildren according to his official website, ran on a platform focusing on energy policy and national strength according to his official website, holds distinction as first North Dakotan on Senate Armed Services Committee according to his official website.
Looking ahead, provisions secured by Cramer and Bennet within this year’s National Defense Authorization Act direct further briefings for Congress about deepening international coordination on defense-related space issues.
