The Next Big Move to Watch For

Chinese advances in hypersonic glide vehicles—weapons that need to be intercepted in space—as well as other developments such as the capability being developed by some nations to grab, deflect, or destroy the satellites of other nations.

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Accurate numbers are hard to come by, but already, it is estimated that of the 11,000 or so active satellites in space, as reported by the satellite tracking website orbiting-now.com, more than 200 are of Japanese origin.

While that may seem small compared with the space assets of the US—which alone has about 8,000 operational satellites by some accounts, or Russia and China—it is significantly more than what nuclear powers such as France—the biggest space power in the European Union—and India have deployed. Both have some 100 satellites in space. Additionally, a series of Japanese SDA—space domain awareness—satellites are planned for launch in 2026.

For a nation where large sections of the people are leery of anything that smacks even mildly of a return to its militaristic past, Japan has cut an impressive swathe in dual-purpose space technology, experts say. It helps that much of this takes place out of sight. Unlike a new warship or nuclear-capable fighter, a satellite cruising in space escapes casual observation.

So, things are changing. The country has had a National Space Development Agency since 1969, but for many Japanese the idea of space as a theatre of competition likely crystallised only with the release, in 1979, of the Gundam anime science fiction television series, which featured human space colonies and space wars.

FROM DEFENCE TO COUNTER-STRIKES But if Gundam tickled the imagination, two subsequent events shook the Japanese out of their strategic stupor.

The first was the North Korean launch, in 1998, of a ballistic missile, the Taepodong-1 which flew over Japan. Then, in early 2007, China conducted its first successful test-downing of a satellite when it destroyed one of its own satellites in space.

The following year Japan lifted a 40-year-ban on using space for defence purposes.