National Space Policy Secretariat, Cabinet Office of Japan

The National Space Policy Secretariat is part of the Cabinet Office of Japan. It plans and coordinates the country's space policy. The Cabinet Office also carries out policies on the building, upkeep and running of the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System, known as QZSS.

Japan's Basic Space Law set up a Strategic Headquarters for National Space Policy. Its aim is to promote space development and use in a planned and joined up way. The Secretariat works with the Committee on National Space Policy. The Basic Plan on Space Policy is Japan's most basic plan for space activity. It rests on a law enacted in 2008. The Secretariat plans and designs the policies that go into the plan, including ideas the Committee has discussed.

Each year the Secretariat and the Committee give ministries and agencies guidelines on how to spend money on space. The goal is to help the ministries and agencies work together and use their resources well.

QZSS is a satellite system that gives a regional positioning service in the Asia-Pacific. It is meant to help industry and public bodies work better, and it supports Japan's presence in the region. It also supports national security through closer work with the United States. QZSS is also meant to improve disaster management.

The Secretariat's work covers other topics too. These include the Space Security Initiative and space traffic management. It handles applications under the Remote Sensing Data Act, the Space Activities Act and the Space Resources Act. It also runs the Space Development and Utilization Award. The award recognises outstanding space projects that help advance space work and public understanding.

On the international side, the Cabinet Office agreed a joint declaration of intent with the German federal ministry for research, technology and space in June 2025. It covers peaceful space cooperation. In February 2026 the Secretariat held its eleventh symposium on the safe and sustainable use of outer space. In 2019 the Strategic Headquarters and the Committee also set a policy on Japan joining international space exploration under a US proposal.

Services

• Space policy planning
• Quasi-Zenith Satellite System
• Space Security Initiative
• Space traffic management
• Remote Sensing Data Act applications
• Space Activities Act applications
• Space Resources Act applications
• Space Development and Utilization Award