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The launch of Michibiki satellite #1

A global positioning system (GPS) satellite to be launched by Japan next month will have jamming capabilities for North Korean signals, the Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported on May 29.

The jamming functions are to be included on the Japanese GPS satellite Michibiki 2, which the Japanese government is scheduled to launch on June 1 from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture. The satellite is being launched by Japan as part of a push to build an independent satellite-based positioning system without relying on US GPS.

While GPS is used today for commercial purposes in car navigation and smartphone positioning information, it was first developed by the US in the Cold War era for military purposes. The Japanese GPS is similarly intended for military as well as commercial purposes, including use in Japanese Self-Defense Forces warships and aircraft.

The potential military uses are also why the Japanese GPS is including functions for jamming North Korean signals. North Korea has sent signals toward South Korea to prevent the functioning of weapons that operate through GPS. Japan is using special highly encoded signals with the Michibiki 2 that will not be vulnerable to jamming or false signals sent by other parties, the Sankei Shimbun reported.

The newspaper also said the Michibiki‘s jamming signal neutralization functions could be used once Japan acquires enemy base attack capabilities. Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) recently proposed to Tokyo that it acquire attack capabilities for a potential strike against North Korean missile bases. US-made cruise missiles have been mentioned as weapons that could be used in attacking North Korean missile bases; the use of GPS would increase their precision. Japan could perhaps use its own GPS if it acquires cruise missiles from the US and uses them in an attack on a North Korean base.

With a GPS error range of 6 cm, the Japanese GPS is far more precise than US GPS, which has an error range of 10 m. The Japanese government currently plans to have three position measurement satellites in place within the year to use with US GPS as part of a 24-hour GPS system. By 2023, it plans to have its own independent GPS system without relying on US GPS, with a total of seven position measurement satellites in operation.

By Cho Ki-weon, Tokyo correspondent

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