Japan moves to end ban on military use of space

TOKYO, June 2 (Reuters) Japan's ruling party aims to end a decades-old ban on military involvement in space development, officials said today.

A bill that would relax regulations and allow non-aggressive military use of space is expected to be submitted to parliament later this year, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) officials said.

Japan's armed forces are prohibited from involvement in space development under a strict interpretation of a 1969 parliamentary resolution limiting the use of space to peaceful purposes.

Critics have said this puts Japan at a disadvantage compared with countries such as Russia and the United States, where technology developed for military purposes often then filters down to the commercial market.

The regulation has also affected the quality of information available to Japan's armed forces, which are prohibited from developing their own satellites.

The LDP will seek to revise the parliamentary resolution after enacting the new law, the officials said.

Alarmed by a North Korean missile fired over Japan in 1998, Tokyo launched two spy satellites in 2003 to keep an eye on its neighbour, but they offer levels of resolution far lower than those of military satellites operated by other countries.

An attempt to launch a further two intelligence satellites later the same year had to be aborted, an embarrassing failure for Japan while rival China has carried out manned space flights -- something Japan has never attempted.

Japan has been stretching the boundaries of its postwar pacifist constitution in various ways, notably by sending troops to Iraq in what is seen as the armed forces' most dangerous overseas mission since World War Two.

The outline of the legislation stresses the need for Japan to secure closer cooperation between the public and private sectors, maintain its own space technology and improve the competitiveness of its space industry.

Japan's 1947 constitution has been interpreted as allowing armed forces but strictly limiting their role to self-defence.

The government has been stretching that restriction, however, most recently with a decision to send about 500 soldiers to help rebuild Iraq.

REUTERS SI PM1056