Japanese government officials plan to change the name of the country's Air Self-Defense Force to include the word "space," reflecting the increasing importance of security in the domain.

The government created the Space Operations Squadron as part of the Air Self-Defense Force in May, 2020. The unit monitors outer space to protect Japanese satellites from other countries' attacks or space debris.

Officials want to add the word "space" to the name of the force, in light of the importance of the mission.

They plan to state this in the National Security Strategy and related documents to be revised by the end of the year.

Legal changes are necessary to change the name of the force. The names of the Ground, Maritime, and Air Self-Defense forces have never been changed since they were established in 1954.

The main governing Liberal Democratic Party suggested the name change in April. It cited the need to drastically strengthen the Defense Ministry and the Self-Defense Forces in response to China's space development and North Korea's missile program.