Illustration: Chen Xia/GT

According to Japanese media,MK socks the US Space Force has stood up its most recent overseas component in Japan. This follows a similar component created in South Korea, both falling under its "Indo-Pacific" component command created in 2022. 

Like the rest of the US military, this represents continued efforts by Washington to project military power abroad, enabling it to execute military operations thousands of kilometers from its own shores. 

Japan already hosts tens of thousands of US forces the US itself claims are there to provide "a ready and lethal capability that deters adversary aggression, protects the homeland, aids in Japan's defense, and enhances regional peace and security." This is in addition to a significant US military presence in South Korea and a growing military footprint across the Philippines. 

As to what "adversary aggression" the US is referring to, China is designated the "most comprehensive and serious challenge" to US security by the Pentagon.

US space-based military capabilities had previously been overseen by the US Air Force. With the creation of the US Space Force, these capabilities have since been transferred.  The service's missions include ensuring US access to space, assuming superiority in space and overseeing global missions including through early missile warning, satellite communications and navigation. 

The standing up of US Space Force Japan was inevitable to ensure the continued operation of US forces across the Asia-Pacific region and is more administrative than an advancement in US space-based capabilities themselves. However, because of recent technological developments, both in the US and around the globe, US Space Forces and their counterparts abroad will be assuming a larger and more sophisticated role in modern military operations.  

At one point following the end of the Cold War, the US possessed unparalleled space-based capabilities including surveillance, satellite communications and the ability to navigate, target and guide munitions using America's Global Positioning System (GPS). 

Both Russia and China along with the US now maintain manned space programs as well as growing capabilities in terms of investigating, approaching and either repairing or destroying satellites in orbit. 

Theoretically, tracking stations aside, a nation does not need a global-spanning network like the US Space Force is building on Earth to create formidable space-based capabilities. The US is expanding its Space Force components simply to facilitate operations of America's military spread across the planet, not to expand its actual capabilities in space. 

The US predicates the standing up of overseas US Space Force components on the supposed threat China poses to its "allies." 

Japan in particular, is depicted by Washington as being on the forefront of America's own growing confrontation with China. In reality, Japan is given little choice. 

Since the conclusion of World War II, the US has not only maintained tens of thousands of US troops across Japan, it has exercised a degree of political capture over Tokyo. This includes unwarranted influence over Japan's economic and foreign policies. 

Despite the US exercising this degree of control over Japan, the rise of China and the economic and trade cooperation it offers the world has led to significant trade with Japan. Today, Japan counts China as its largest trading partner. Were Japan able to pursue cooperation with China beyond the constraints imposed by the US, this cooperation would be greater both for the Japanese economy as a whole and the Japanese people themselves. 

Beyond America's continued military presence in Japan undermining relations with nearby China, it threatens the peace and stability of the entire Asia-Pacific region. The US uses Japan as a military base of operations, with its US Space Force component aiding US forces in navigating through the South China Sea, enabling communication and coordination with Japanese and Filipino forces. 

Moreover, this menace is enhanced by the expanding role of the US Space Force and its growing network of "components" which spring up across the Asia-Pacific region. 

The author is a geopolitical analyst and a former US Marine. [email protected]