Japan, U.S. collaborate to protect critical satellite infrastructure
Tom Abke
A Japan-United States venture to protect critical satellite infrastructure against hostile anti-satellite (ASAT) activity and damaging space debris will culminate in 2023 and 2024 with Tokyo launching satellites fitted with U.S.-made space situational awareness (SSA) sensors, as well as continued private-sector collaboration to develop SSA-specific satellites.
“Satellite capabilities enable functions in nearly every aspect of our lives, from the way we operate our homes to the transportation sector, to electric power grids, banking systems and global communications,” Bruce McClintock, lead of the Space Enterprise Initiative at the Rand Corp., told FORUM.
To illustrate how vulnerable these satellites are to attack and debris, McClintock cited ASAT tests by the People’s Republic of China in 2007 and by Russia in 2021 that not only destroyed a pair of old satellites belonging to each country, but also generated massive amounts of debris that put other orbiting assets at risk, including the International Space Station.
“To protect satellites and astronauts from space debris, thoroughly understanding their orbits is essential. Space situational awareness is a key for such understanding,” according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). “Cooperation with countries around the world is very important to solve the space debris problem.”
Japan will launch a Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) satellite with SSA optical sensors in 2023, according to Space News magazine. The optical sensors were developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory. A second QZSS satellite is scheduled to launch in 2024, also fitted with Lincoln SSA sensors. Both launches will be from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center, pictured.
The U.S. Space Force announced in January 2023 that it had delivered the optical sensors to Japan under a memorandum of understanding it signed with Japan’s Office of National Space Policy in December 2020.
The satellites will augment JAXA’s SSA capabilities, which currently use data from optical and radar telescopes and ground-based radar stations to analyze the orbits of space debris, its proximity to satellites and its reentry into the atmosphere. Orbiting at 36,000 kilometers, the SSA-capable QZSS satellites will monitor the geostationary belt, home to communications satellites and other critical infrastructure.
“There’s speculation that China is likely pursuing a geosynchronous ASAT,” McClintock said. “Beijing has already launched an object in space on a trajectory that went above 30,000 kilometers, which is near those geostationary altitudes.”
Designed and manufactured by Japan’s IHI Corp. and U.S.-based Northrop Grumman, the SSA satellites have a mobility advantage because of their compact size, allowing them to approach suspicious satellites and relay images for analysis, according to Japan’s Nikkei Asia news magazine.
IMAGE CREDIT: JAPAN AEROSPACE EXPLORATION AGENCY
