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SDF 70 yrs on — Expanding Roles / Air Self-Defense Force Monitoring Outer Space; Working With Other Countries To Watch For Debris, Suspicious Satellites

The Yomiuri Shimbun

1:05 JST, July 14, 2024

To mark the 70th anniversary of the Self-Defense Forces, The Yomiuri Shimbun interviewed Col. Kimitoshi Sugiyama, the commander of the Air Self-Defense Force’s Space Operations Group. The following are excerpts from the interview by staff writer Kenta Kamimura.

When I joined the Air Self-Defense Force in 1994, I never even imagined that a unit called “the space operations group” would be created. The members learned new skills, and now they take a flexible outlook on things as they build up new capabilities in the space field.

Already — since spring of last year — we have begun carrying out Space Domain Awareness (SDA) missions. Since spring of this year, we have been operating a device to determine if satellites used by Japan are being jammed.

Though it has not been long since our group was established, our counterparts in the United States and like-minded countries have told us that Japan has done well in this short period.

If we start operating a Space Situational Awareness (SSA) radar and an SDA satellite, we will be able to learn more details about the conditions [of Japanese satellites], including those in geostationary orbit.

By carefully monitoring them, we will be able to spot space debris or suspicious satellites approaching Japanese satellites, and to issue warnings in advance or take action to prevent collisions.

For major countries, military operations are inconceivable without satellites. And the rapid increase in the number of objects in space has led to an accompanying growth in the threat they pose. Space is a vitally important part of the foundation of national security.

To monitor outer space, which is vast and has no national borders, international cooperation is also important.

The ASDF has joined multilateral drills for dealing with situations such as satellites coming too close to each other. By doing so, Japan has been deepening cooperative ties with the United States, of course, and also with other like-minded countries.