WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th August, 2020) US and Japanese negotiators reaffirmed a plan for Japanese satellites to host American equipment designed to monitor traffic and other developing situations in outer space at the seventh annual bilateral space dialogue that ended earlier this week, according to a joint press release issued by the State Department.
"In light of the inherent vulnerability of space systems and growing concern for threats to the continuous, safe, and stable use of outer space, both sides committed to enhance cooperation on SSA [space situational awareness] and mission assurance," the release said on Thursday.
Both nations endorsed a tentative plan by Japan's Cabinet and the US Defense Department for Japan to host US-provided SSA payloads on Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellites to be launched by the end of March 2024, the release said.
Apart from recent efforts to develop a security architecture, the United States and Japan have long history of bilateral cooperation in non-military uses of space, including weather forecasting, science, land and ocean observation and environmental monitoring, the release added.
