Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2013 March 20 - 26 [POLITICS]

Space development to be focused on military purposes

The government in late January adopted the new Basic Plan for Space Policy to accelerate the use of space for military purposes. Concerns are growing that it will have space engineers play a role in diverting advanced technology to military use and turn space science and exploration into secondary ventures.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is an independent administrative institution working for the nation’s space development. As one of the JAXA’s bodies, the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) has achieved world-class results in developing satellites and probes, such as asteroid probe “Hayabusa” and infrared astronomical satellite “Akari”.

Out of the nation’s space-related budget of about 300 billion yen, 20 billion yen is given to the ISAS. The institute plans to use 31.4 billion yen to cover all the costs related to operations of “Hayabusa 2”, which is tasked to unveil some of the mysteries of the solar system, from its development, launch, to its return to the earth.

Meanwhile, in the government’s space-related budget draft for fiscal year 2013 (321.8 billion yen), 139 billion yen (43%) is allocated to security-related projects.

The Basic Plan for Space Policy, which will be effective for five years from FY2013, includes a project with a budget about 260 billion yen to build Japan’s Global Positioning System (GPS) to complement and reinforce the GPS developed by the United States.

It also calls for the continuation of information-gathering satellite operations for which the national government has spent one trillion yen since 1998. Although “response to a major disaster” was indicated as the purpose of the introduction of the satellite, images of the 2011 Great East Japan Disaster and the subsequent accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were prohibited from being made available to the public due to “security” reasons.

Following the revision of the JAXA Law last year which deleted a provision limiting the agency’s activities to peaceful purposes, the Basic Plan states that it is significant for the JAXA to make contributions in the area of security.

It also stresses the need to promote research and development of the GPS technology that will be capable of responding to any emergency situation and proposes mobilization of researchers to this end, suggesting that the JAXA could be used as a subcontractor working on defense-related technology.

Osada Yoshihiro, member of the Japan Scientists’ Association who had been involved in development of satellite communications technology at NTT, said, “If this move is accelerated, the JAXA will be incorporated into the Japan-U.S. security structure.” He warned of a possible difficulty for engineers to conduct basic research and develop new technology.