Assessing Continuities and Changes in Japan’s Space Security Blueprint 2023

Abstract

Japan announced its new space security blueprint in June 2023. The new blueprint lays down a ten-year roadmap for the country to enhance the utilization of space for its military. While the announcement has been widely perceived as a ‘first’, it is in fact a crystallization of Japan’s space security strategies over the last few decades. This article interprets the blueprint in light of Japan’s counterstrike doctrine. It traces Japan’s rise as a military space power since the 1970s and analyses its evolving approach to space security. Continuities and changes in the 2023 blueprint are assessed against Japan’s historic policies.

Keywords:

• Japan
• space security
• military space
• space policy
• national security strategy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

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16. Manuel Manriquez, no. 13.

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20. Saadia M. Pekkanen, no. 7.

21. Joan Johnson-Freese, Space as a Strategic Asset, Columbia University Press, New York, 2007, p. 115.

22. Anupama Vijayakumar and Vineeth Krishnan, no. 2.

23. Ibid.

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27. Saadia M. Pekkanen, no. 7.

28. National Space Policy Secretariat, Cabinet Office, Japan, Outline of the Basic Plan on Space Policy (Provisional Translation), 30 June 2020, p. 2 at https://www8.cao.go.jp/space/english/basicplan/2020/abstract_0701.pdf (Accessed 1 August 2023).

29. Ibid., p. 5.

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33. Cabinet Secretariat, National Security Strategy of Japan, December 2022, p. 19 at https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/siryou/221216anzenhoshou/nss-e.pdf (Accessed 2 August 2023).

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35. Kazuto Suzuki, ‘Space Security in Japan’s New Strategy Documents’, no. 12.

36. Riyaz ul Khaliq, no. 26.

37. Cabinet Secretariat, National Security Strategy of Japan, no. 33, p. 4.

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39. Anupama Vijayakumar, no. 5.

40. Satoshi Kawahara, ‘Japan Plans Expansion of Homegrown GPS Network to 11 Satellites’, Nikkei Asia, 8 May 2023 at https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Aerospace-Defense-Industries/Japan-plans-expansion-of-homegrown-GPS-network-to-11-satellites (Accessed 1 August 2023).

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46. Kazuto Suzuki, no. 12.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Vineeth Krishnan

Vineeth Krishnan is a PhD candidate at the Department of Geopolitics and International Relations, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), India.

Anupama Vijayakumar

Dr. Anupama Vijayakumar is the Co-founder and Director of Trivium, a think tank in Thiruvananthapuram, India. She holds a PhD from the Department of Geopolitics and International Relations, MAHE. Her research focuses on science and technology in international relations.