Lift-off in Japan and US space cooperation to counter China with Tokyo facility

The Space Force office’s launch comes as China expands its reconnaissance satellites and space-based jamming technology

Reading Time:3 minutes

An H3 rocket lifts off from Tanegashima Space Centre in Kagoshima, southern Japan last year. Photo: AP

Published: 10:00am, 21 Nov 2024Updated: 10:26am, 21 Nov 2024

The move by the United States to open a Space Force office in Tokyo is seen by experts as a significant step in its security cooperation with Japan amid escalating concerns over China’s space ambition.

Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani confirmed the plan for the launch in December of the Space Force headquarters at the US military’s Yokota Air Base, on the outskirts of Tokyo, when he met with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin in Australia on Sunday, Jiji Press reported.

Discussions on the new headquarters began in February with the office expected to have 10 Space Force personnel initially to handle communication and coordination with Japan’s Self-Defence Forces.

The creation of the Space Force outpost in Japan follows the establishment of a similar unit at Osan Air Force Base in South Korea in December 2022.

US President Joe Biden held talks with then-Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in May about cooperation in security and economic development in space.

Lance Gatling, president of Nexial Research and an aerospace and defence analyst, said details of their discussions released to the media “were just the tip of the iceberg of what they agreed to”.