Copyright Interesting Engineering
Japanese engineers have reportedly developed a hypersonic space-based missile tracking technology. Called the HTV-X, the new tech has been built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). According to reports, the new technology consists of a next-generation cargo ship that delivers supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), similar to what SpaceX’s Dragon or Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus does for NASA. According to sources like the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the HTV-X just made its first flight, delivering about 4.4 tonnes of food, equipment, and experiments to the ISS. Unlike older Japanese cargo ships that burned up right after their ISS missions, this one will stay in orbit for up to 18 months after undocking. JAXA designed it to act as a “flying laboratory,” or a testbed where Japan can experiment with new space technologies before they go into future satellites or missions. Japan’s Ministry of Defence (MOD) is using this mission to test something highly strategic: a hypersonic missile-tracking system that works from space. Japan’s new hypersonic tracking system According to reports, Japan’s MOD has attached infrared sensors to the HTV-X. These sensors are designed to detect the intense heat produced by a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV). These are a new class of weapon that travels faster than Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound) and can maneuver in flight, making it hard to track with normal radar. Reportedly, sometime after the HTV-X finishes its ISS work, Japan will launch a test projectile over or near Japanese airspace that mimics a hypersonic missile’s flight and heat signature. They will then use the infrared sensors on the orbiting HTV-X to try to spot and track it. If the system can successfully detect and follow the projectile’s trajectory, it proves that Japan can build satellites with these sensors to form a space-based early warning network. This would make it similar in purpose to U.S. and allied missile warning satellites. Such technology is deemed vital for Japan as it sits next to China, North Korea, and Russia, all of which are testing or deploying hypersonic weapons. First ISS, then national defense Such weapon systems can strike targets extremely quickly and can evade traditional radar systems by gliding and changing course. That gives defending nations very little warning time, especially if the launch happens nearby. Because ground-based radar has blind spots (due to the Earth’s curvature and terrain), space-based tracking gives a much better, continuous view of potential missile launches. This new test helps Japan meet two of its major defense goals, too. The first is to develop its own hypersonic weapon. Namely, the Hyper-Velocity Gliding Projectile (HVGP) for “island defence,” meant to deter or counter enemy landings or attacks on remote Japanese islands. Secondly, the sensors and satellites needed to spot incoming hypersonic missiles early, allowing time for interception or civil defense responses. After it finishes its ISS supply run, the HTV-X will act as an orbital test platform for hypersonic missile detection, part of Japan’s effort to keep pace with China, Russia, and North Korea in the hypersonic arms race and strengthen its own missile warning and response capabilities.
