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Earlier this year, the leaders of the United States and Japan agreed to extend the scope of their alliance to space.

The area of ​​containment against China has actually been expanded to space, and as part of that, key equipment from the US Space Force will be installed on Japanese satellites to be launched this year.



This is an exclusive report by Correspondent Park Sang-jin in Tokyo.



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On the 14th, the leaders of the United States and Japan decided to expand the scope of security stipulated in the security treaty between the two countries to the space domain.



Analysts say the move is a measure in case Japan's artificial satellites are attacked by an enemy country.



[Kishida/Prime Minister of Japan: We are trying to push forward the promotion of space cooperation (with the United States), which has entered a new era.]



The first space cooperation between the two countries is to mount a Japanese navigation satellite with a 'high-sensitivity optical sensor' from the US Space Force. It has been confirmed that



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A navigation satellite is a satellite that can measure the position of a ship or aircraft in navigation, and is used for civil navigation as well as military position analysis of missiles and aircraft.



On the 17th, related equipment also arrived at Yokoda Air Base in Japan.



If the Japanese navigation satellite is equipped with a high-sensitivity optical sensor from the US Space Force, it is expected that the precision will be much higher than it is now.



Japanese navigation satellites are moving toward the South Pacific and measuring only Japan and Oceania, but next year they will expand their observations to China and Southeast Asia.



High-sensitivity optical sensors will be installed on two navigation satellites that Japan will launch this year, and the US and Japan will share information obtained through them.



The United States and Japan plan to discuss strengthening space cooperation in all areas, including the moon and other celestial bodies, in March, as Japan's operation of navigation satellites equipped with key parts of the US Space Force is expected to stimulate China.



(Video coverage: Han Chul-min · Moon Hyun-jin, CG: Seo Seung-hyun, photo courtesy: US Air Force)