The new military organisation aims to ensure the superiority of Japan's ultraterrestrial resources in times of peace and armed conflict

Japan creates a minimalist Space Force to protect its satellites from attacks by China and Russia

photo_camera PHOTO/Mindef Japón - The new unit is located at Fuchu air base, 20 km from the Japanese capital. In the picture, the until a few weeks ago Minister of Defence, Taro Kono, hands over the flag to the head of the new Unit

Japan's defence policy has taken a giant step forward with the establishment of a new military organisation devoted exclusively to preserving its significant space capabilities in orbit. For the Tokyo government, satellites are becoming more indispensable to the country's national security every day.  

A minimalist, Japanese-style version of the Space Force established a year ago by Donald Trump as the space-service branch of the United States Armed Forces, the new structure is included in the Japanese Air Self-Defence Force. Its purpose is to guarantee the services provided by several dozen Japanese civilian and military satellites in orbit and prevent aggressive actions against them, whether they are communications, meteorological, scientific or Earth observation platforms....  

Dedicated to continuously monitoring the situation in space and ensuring the superiority of Japanese overseas resources in times of peace and armed conflict, its main mission is to protect the Japanese platforms deployed in space, the elimination of which would paralyse or blind the Military Self-Defence Forces and leave the country vulnerable to direct attacks from third countries.  

PHOTO/Koji Sasahara AP - El recién nombrado primer ministro Yoshihide Suga, de 71 años, sigue la política de su antecesor Shinzo Abe, conocedor de la gran importancia que para un país insular como Japón tiene el componente espacial

The green light to implement the embryo of a genuine Space Force is a consequence of both the Tokyo government and its military high command's concern that China and Russia are placing special emphasis on developing anti-satellite missiles and space platforms equipped with weapons, jamming systems, blocking and listening to communications and electromagnetic emissions. 

Taro Kono, in charge of the Defence Ministry a few weeks ago and now in charge of reforming the administration, forecasted that the Space Operations Squadron would become a poweful Space Domain Mission Unit with Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance systems or C4ISR by 2023. Once the entire system is in service, plans are to rename the Air Force the Self-Defence Aerospace Force.

PHOTO/Mindef Japón - Su finalidad es ser el escudo frente a posibles ataques de misiles anti-satélite y plataformas equipadas con armas, sistemas de interferencia, bloqueo y escucha
Near Tokio

The new unit is located at Fuchu air base, 20 km from the Japanese capital. The first contingent of military personnel assigned to activate the squadron has been made up of only 20 previously selected personnel. It will gradually be staffed by specialist personnel until its organisational structure is completed and its name changed to the Space Operations Unit. 

Its activities include operating the national space environment awareness system or SSA -acronym for Space Situational Awareness-, a ground surveillance network that monitors space debris travelling in space to prevent collisions with satellites, in collaboration with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). 

It is also responsible for monitoring suspected satellites from third countries that may pose a threat to Japanese space platforms, observing the launch of warheaded ballistic missiles and monitoring re-entry into the atmosphere. And to ensure the operability of the Japanese QZSS Michibiki constellation, which extends and complements US GPS signals in the Asia-Pacific region. 

PHOTO/JAXA - Entre sus actividades está operar el sistema nacional de conocimiento del entorno espacial que supervisa los desechos espaciales para evitar colisiones con satélites

The model chosen is the result of a long process of consultation with different Asian and European countries, especially Washington, with which Tokyo has a privileged cooperation in terms of space policy and innovation. The Pentagon benefits from Japan's coverage of blind areas in China and North Korea it does not control, and Japanese senior military commanders receive strategic information through the United States' extensive global SSA sensor network.   

The implementation of the first link in the Space Force of the so-called "Cherry Blossom Country" is included in the National Defence Programme Guidelines for 2019 and subsequent years, which states that "superiority in the new domains, which are space, cyberspace and the electromagnetic spectrum, has become essential to Japan". 

PHOTO/JAXA - Nace para garantizar los servicios que prestan las decenas de satélites civiles y militares que Japón mantiene operativos en órbita, esenciales para la economía y la defensa del país
Shinzo Abe's latest military initiative 

The decision to give life to a military space structure is one of the last measures taken by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before leaving his post on September 16 owing to illness and after nearly eight years as head of the government of Emperor Naruhito.  

The successor, Yoshihide Suga, 71, took up the post a month ago and is following general policy as laid down by Shinzo Abe, whose minister and right-hand man in the government he was. Broadly speaking, the challenges the new Japanese leader faces are to reactivate the economy with measures to stimulate private investment, carry out structural reforms in public administration and attempt to maintain good relations with Xi Jinping's China.  

PHOTO/Koji Sasahara AP - Crear una organización militar espacial es una de las últimas grandes decisiones del primer ministro Shinzo Abe antes de dejar su puesto hace un mes por razones de enfermedad

The alarm signal that has speeded up the formation of the military space structure was triggered in June 2019 when the business unit of the Japanese industrial giant Mitsubishi dedicated to developing advanced electronic systems and manufacturing satellites, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MEC), informed Shinzo Abe's government that it had been the target of a powerful cyber-attack. 

The attack put at serious risk confidential data on the company's operations and private information of the company's thousands of managers and employees. MEC's chief executive officer, Takeshi Sugiyama, assured the Japanese executive that the company's sophisticated cyber security system had safeguarded the secret information on the defence, space, transport and electrical energy matters in which the company operates. Shinzo Abe took note, however, and ordered that the founding of a Space Force should be accelerated.  

Japan's defence programme is characterised by its non-offensive nature due to political, legal and budgetary constraints. The harsh consequences of its defeat in the Second World War continue to hang over Japan's political class and society, to the extent that, practically but unofficially, the ceiling on the Ministry of Defence's expenditure and investment is no more than one per cent of its Gross Domestic Product.

More in Society