Japan's top space advocate wants own NASA

By Aiko Hayashi

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's leading space advocate wants to set up a Japanese version of NASA and double the country's space budget in the next decade to boost its ability to watch neighbors such as North Korea and strengthen its space industry.

Japan last month ended a pacifist policy that has separated space development from the military since 1969, and passed a law allowing military use of space -- opening up new opportunities for Japanese and U.S. aerospace companies.

Takeo Kawamura, who crafted and pushed through the law and chairs the space committee in Japan's ruling party, told Reuters that his country, which has an exclusively defensive security policy, needed a stronger presence in space to secure its safety.

"We want to establish a space agency as our ultimate goal. NASA is the ideal model," said Kawamura, who is being closely watched by aerospace executives watching to see where Japan's space ambitions go to next.

"Until recently, we have been like a free-rider on the U.S. in this respect, but that is no longer enough and we'll need to play a significantly bigger role," Kawamura said.

The current space exploration agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has an annual budget of around 180 billion yen ($1.7 billion), and is focused on science.

Kawamura said he needed to ask for 400 billion yen, hoping to secure at least 300 billion yen ($2.8 billion), although that would still be only around 16 percent of NASA's $17 billion annual spend.

Japan has long had concerns about China's space and military programs and North Korea's nuclear missile capabilities, concerns that were heightened when Pyongyang test-fired a missile over Japan in 1998.

Tokyo has spy satellites watching North Korea but their resolution is limited compared to those of other governments.

BUILDING A SPACE INDUSTRY

Kawamura said he has a 10-year plan to create a Japanese NASA, with its own reconnaissance satellites, while maintaining international cooperation.

The recently passed military law mandates the creation of a new cabinet-level post to oversee space security, a move that could help pry more funding out of tight-fisted bureaucrats worried about Japan's bulging public debt and rising pension spending as the population ages.

"It's not going to be easy as Japan is going through financial reforms as a whole, but we will need to ask for a doubling of the budget," Kawamura said.

For the vigorous industrialization of the space businesses, such methods as anchor tenancy contracts and private financing would play a key role, Kawamura said.

"Industrial investment will begin once business plans, such as how many satellites will be launched in a year, are properly announced. Companies can start buying equipment or training people if they know the government will guarantee the future," he said.