Japan to launch military space force – report

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V lifts off from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Friday evening, Aug. 1, 2014. The rocket carried a GPS 2F-7 spacecraft which will join a constellation of other satellites already orbiting 11,000 miles above Earth. The GPS satellite will provide navigation for both military and civilian users. AP

TOKYO – Japan is planning to launch a military space force by 2019 that would initially be tasked with protecting satellites from dangerous debris orbiting the Earth, a report said.

The move is aimed at strengthening Japan-US cooperation in space, and comes after the countries pledged to boost joint work on monitoring space debris, Kyodo news agency said Sunday.

Japan would provide the US military with information obtained by the force as part of the joint bid to strengthen ties in space, the so-called “fourth battlefield”, Kyodo said, citing unnamed sources.

Japan’s defense ministry is looking at creating the new force using personnel from the Air Self-Defense Force, the country’s air force, it added.

The unit would acquire radar and telescope facilities, jointly with the science ministry and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, to run its observatory operations, Kyodo said.

Thousands of pieces of debris – including old satellites as well as pieces of rockets and other space equipment – are orbiting the Earth and threaten to collide with functioning communications and reconnaissance satellites.