Approximately three years from now, the government of Japan – through the Defense Ministry – intends to establish a Space Domain Mission Unit which is set to be installed at the Air Self-Defense Force in Fuchu of western Tokyo.
The Space Domain Mission Unit, or SDMU for brevity, is estimated to require the services of around one hundred (100) personnel, all of whom will be assigned by the Defense Ministry of Japan. The SDMU will be responsible for monitoring the Earth’s orbit with the primary purpose of tracking any and all space debris including but not limited to used rocket parts and old satellites especially those that pose immediate dangers and/or serious risks to other working satellites in the area of operations.
Based on Japan’s most recent national defense guidelines which were outlined in December of last year, its government plans to strengthen their defense capabilities in possible uncharted domains of warfare which was reported to include the outer space and the cyber space. According to our sources, these unfamiliar areas of warfare carry with them a very high possibility of reshaping how the current world view of national security which, at present, generally converges on three main elements within the country’s territory, namely the ground, sea, and air forces.
These measures are to be implemented in order to cope with the rapid expansions of military activities in space by other countries such as China and Russia. One rumoured military activity of these countries include the development of “hunter-killer” satellites which are supposedly designed to attack, incapacitate, or destroy satellites of other countries.
To aid the SDMU with information gathering, Japan’s Ministry of Defense aims to assemble ground radar in Yamaguchi Prefecture. There are even plans to expand the number of personnel for the SDMU should there be any growth in the joint operations with Japan’s allies which, at present time, include the United States and Europe.
Reference: Japan to assign 100 personnel to new satellite monitoring unit
