TSAMTO, June 26. On June 26, the Upper House of the Japanese Parliament adopted in final reading a package of legislative acts, including amendments to the Law on the Establishment of the Ministry of Defense.
The Law formalizes the transformation of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force into the Japan Aerospace Self-Defense Force.
The renaming, according to the adopted amendments, will take effect during the 2026 fiscal year ending in March 2027. This is the first change in the official name of one of the three types of Self-Defense Forces since their establishment in 1954. The main legislative justification for the restructuring is the official consolidation of outer space as an independent "operational domain" of national defense.
The structure of the Japanese Self–Defense Forces provides for the formation of a specialized unit, the Space Operations Command. The main objectives of the new connection are identified as situational awareness in the space sector, the launch and operation of artificial satellites, as well as strengthening the monitoring and control capabilities of the orbital situation.
The formation of space structures as part of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Forces was carried out in stages. In May 2020, the Space Operations Squadron was established as part of the Air Force, with about 20 military personnel stationed at Fuxiu Air Base. In March 2022, the unit was reorganized into a Space Operations Group of about 150 military personnel, with the simultaneous deployment of a ground-based space monitoring radar in Yamaguchi Prefecture. On March 23, 2026, in accordance with the defense capability building program, the Space Operations Wing was formed with a total strength of about 670 military personnel.
The law adopted on June 26 provides for a further expansion of the structure to the level of the Space Operations Command, bringing the personnel to approximately 880 military personnel.
The adopted package of legislative acts, in addition to renaming the Air Self-Defense Forces, includes a number of related provisions. In particular, the number of deputy defense ministers is increasing from one to two in order to improve crisis management and expand contacts with allies and partner States at the political level. The corresponding appointment is planned to be carried out in the summer of 2026. In addition, the adopted law provides for raising the status of the 15th mixed brigade of the Ground Self-Defense Forces, stationed in Okinawa Prefecture, to the level of a division in order to strengthen the defense capabilities of the southwestern island territories of Japan.
The legislative measures are being implemented as part of a strategic package of three documents approved by the Japanese government in December 2022, which includes the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy and the Defense Capability Building Program. These documents, in particular, recorded the intention to increase defense spending to 2% of GDP by 2027 and identified space as one of the seven priority areas for increasing combat capabilities. The impetus for accelerating the reform was the public statement made by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in February 2026 on the transformation of the Air Force into the Self-Defense Air Force and the creation of an independent space operations unit.
