Japan launches unit for satellite defense

Japan on Monday launched its first space operation unit to monitor and counter threats to the country's satellites.

According to the Japanese Defense Ministry, the Space Operations Squadron, part of Japan's Air Self-Defense Force, will be located at a base in Tokyo's Fuchu City with 20 personnel, and is expected to grow to about 100 members once the unit is fully operational in 2023.

The role of the unit is to monitor and protect Japanese satellites from enemy attacks or space debris, while also conducting satellite-based navigation and communications for troops in the field, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, the unit will cooperate with the Space Command of the United States, which was established last year, as well as the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Japan's Defense Minister Taro Kono said.

"It is important that we gain superiority in the space domain as well," Kono said on Monday. "We must adapt to the new security environment as soon as possible."

Separately, a NHK poll found that the disapproval rating for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet had reached 45 percent, surpassing the approval rating of 37 percent for the first time in about two years.

The poll, conducted over the weekend and covering nearly 2,000 people by telephone, said 36 percent of the respondents who disapproved said they didn't trust Abe, and 26 percent said they did not expect much from his Cabinet's policies.

Also, 53 percent of the respondents said they viewed the Japanese government's response to the coronavirus outbreak negatively, while 48 percent said lifting the state of emergency in 39 prefectures last week was "too early".

When asked if the emergency would be lifted nationwide by the end of May as proposed by the government, 22 percent of people who took part in the poll expected this to happen, while 69 percent did not.

Agencies contributed to this story.