Japan Press Weekly

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2016 November 9 - 15 [POLITICS]

Space bills for military pursuits enacted

The House of Councilors at its plenary session on November 9 enacted two bills on the use of space for military purposes by majority vote including that of the ruling parties.

The Japanese Communist Party and other minor opposition forces voted against these bills which are within the concept of Japan-U.S. space security cooperation.

The bills restrict the use of information gathered through the country’s latest space technology under the pretext of antiterrorism. If necessary, the government can prohibit the providing of even commercially available space images, jeopardizing the public right to access information.

However, both bills fail to set any restrictions on launches of artificial satellites for military purposes, leaving open a possibility of departing from peaceful uses of space.

Past related articles:
> People’s joint struggle in 1980s block military use of outer space [February 24, 2016]
> Gov’t will upgrade spy satellite capabilities [November 13, 2015]