On November 14, 2021, Minister of Defense Kishi
The company announced that it will establish a new "Second Space Operations Squadron" at the Air Self-Defense Force Hofu Kita Base (Hofu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture) by the end of FY2022, which will monitor the act of interfering with the work of Japanese artificial satellites with electromagnetic waves.
Only one year has passed since the 100-member Space Operations Squadron was established on May 18, 2020. It can be evaluated as a ridiculously quick response.
I think that was January 2020, but there was a report that "the ASDF wants to expand the space operations squadron to a scale of 16,000." Since then, there has never been such a report, but I personally think that it is the final plan of the ASDF.
The capacity of the Air Self-Defense Force is about 47,000 (the actual seal is probably about 45,000 to 46,000). If it is expanded to 16,000, which is the same level as the US Space Force, the remaining 30,000 will have to manage the defense of the sky. In the future, it will be difficult to squeeze out such personnel even if AI is unmanned and labor saving progresses.
According to this announcement, about 100 people will monitor interference with satellites. Surveillance is one of the important tasks in space operations, but it is not the only one. China, which is already a virtual enemy, has the ability of ASAT (anti-satellite weapon). It goes without saying that in the event of a war, the satellite will be destroyed first. Today's fighters, ships, various missiles, communications, and GSDF operations in general rely heavily on satellites. If the satellite were destroyed, most operations would be impossible. Therefore, the ability to easily launch satellites is also required.
Currently, the only organization that can launch and operate satellites in Japan is the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Positioned as a national development agency. The budget is about 180 billion yen a year. For the time being, the Air Self-Defense Force's space operations squadron will be a piggyback ride on JAXA. JAXA is not a military institution. In the event of an emergency, it is difficult to obtain full cooperation, and since there is no strategic function, there is a high possibility that it will malfunction due to the first missile attack or cyber attack.
The current trend for military satellites is satellite constellation (which launches and orbits multiple satellites). Japan has already launched several satellites, and it is said that there will always be satellites over Japan in the near future. Satellite constellations have two advantages. One is that even if a part is destroyed, the function can be complemented by other satellites. By always having satellites over Japan, more accurate observations will be possible. Ultimately, the Space Operations Squadron must have the ability to continue its operations by launching as many satellites as it has been destroyed.
If you have the ability to interfere with or destroy the satellites of hostile countries, you can proceed with the operation in an advantageous manner. On the other hand, the ability to destroy satellites is a high hurdle, causing space debris, which can have a significant impact later on. Therefore, it is realistic to retain the ability to interfere with the use of satellites by radio waves and cyber attacks.
Ideally, there will be various demands. First of all, deploying troops is a big step. In the future, it will be required to gradually become independent while cooperating with NASA.
