By Kurtis Archer | 2025-10-03

Japan's defense ministry is reportedly developing a "bodyguard" system to shield military satellites from potential attacks from Chinese and Russian "satellite killers" as part of a more proactive security strategy.

The ministry has stressed the need to develop satellite protection against operational disruptions by China and Russia, Newsweek reported September 5.

China and Russia are each developing anti-satellite (ASAT) technology.

"Satellite killers" advance within range of target satellites and then use a robotic arm or deploy electromagnetic waves to interfere with their operations, according to The Japan News.

An attack on any one satellite in Japan's Kirameki satellite constellation, operated by the Japan Self-Defense Forces, could damage the integrity of communications among Japanese military units.

The "bodyguard" satellite being developed aims to protect other satellites from such attacks, with the prototype set to test maneuverability capabilities in geostationary orbit, where telecommunications satellites fly, by the end of 2029.

The idea behind the bodyguard satellite is that it will disrupt the "satellite killer" by determining it is a threat and then blocking its path of approach.

Aggressive activity

In February 2024, US intelligence confirmed Russia was in possession of a "troubling" space-based nuclear anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon, but advised that it was not yet operational.

US officials have accused Russia of jamming US military satellite signals and of deploying satellites capable of firing projectiles at spacecraft.

Though Russia has a long history of space dominance and military aggression, China is increasingly seen as the larger threat above the skies.

In March, US Space Force (USSF) advised that Chinese satellites had been observed engaging in advanced maneuvering activities in orbit, fueling worries that Beijing is developing technology to damage communications satellites.

"With our commercial assets, we have observed five different objects in space maneuvering in and out around each other in synchronicity and in control," USSF vice chief of space operations Gen. Michael Guetlein warned.

"That's what we call 'dogfighting' in space," he said. "They are practicing tactics, techniques, and procedures to do on orbit space operations from one satellite to another."

Space domain concerns

Japan and the United States -- allies that share a security partnership in the Indo-Pacific -- have raised concerns over the integrity of space traffic management with increasing Chinese and Russian activity in orbit.

The Sino-Russian military relationship has been strengthening in recent years, though there are signs that their vaunted partnership may be under strain.

The USSF established an operational unit in Japan in December 2024 as a response to growing tensions in the Indo-Pacific.

And Japan plans to launch the first of its Space Domain Awareness satellites next year to enhance the surveillance and tracking of aggressive spacecraft and orbital debris.

"Threats are increasingly impacting the stable use of outer space, including the collision of space debris with satellites and other objects," the Japanese government said last year.

"To contribute to space security, the Space Operations Group of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force has been intensifying its efforts."

China showed off its military prowess in space with a 2007 ASAT test, which created 3,000 trackable pieces of debris.

Russia carried out a similar ASAT demonstration in 2021, generating more than 1,500 trackable debris fragments and hundreds of thousands of smaller pieces.

China’s official position

In a July 29 report in the Global Times, a daily newspaper linked to the Chinese Communist Party, Chinese military affairs expert Fu Qianshao denies China is building satellite killers.

It is unfair to assume malicious intent when China demonstrates satellite-approaching exercises, Fu says, claiming the tests are to develop technologies that will extend the service life of satellites.

China’s foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun claims "China is committed to the peaceful use of outer space, and opposes any arms race in outer space or weaponizing it," the Global Times reported.

"China actively advances negotiations for legal instruments on space arms control, and calls for the building of a community with a shared future for humanity in outer space," Guo said.

He said China opposes Japan's attempts to justify its own military buildup by hyping up so-called "threats" from other countries.

Meanwhile, China is continuing to develop different categories of space weapons at an alarming pace, according to the USSF.

"The speed with which they're doing it is very threatening," USSF chief of space operations Gen. Chance Saltzman told Politico in May.

"It is an eye-watering pace," Guetlein told Newsweek in March. "It requires our guardians to be on their A-game every single day."