Japan Goes to the Moon

The Japanese have a way of making big moves quietly. Only a handful of onlookers stood in the cold one evening last week to watch a slim red-and- silver rocket roar off the pad at the Kagoshima Space Center near Uchinoura, some 940 km (598 miles) southwest of Tokyo. But despite the minimal press coverage and lack of hoopla, the event was a major milestone for Japan's space program. The launch sent the unmanned Muses-A probe on its way to the moon, the first lunar mission since the Soviets' Luna 24 in 1976. Muses-A is expected to come within 16,000 km (10,000 miles) of the target in mid-March. It will then release a smaller probe, which will go into lunar orbit. If all goes as planned, Japan will become only the third country in history to reach earth's closest neighbor.

That will be just one step in a sweeping initiative that could eventually make Japan one of the premier powers in space. Muses-A is a prelude to future unmanned missions that may land on the moon and explore the atmosphere of Venus. At the same time, Japan is building a new booster rocket that could make the country a strong competitor in the burgeoning business of launching commercial satellites into earth orbit. The Japanese have announced no plans for manned space flights, but they are considering the possibility. Already their companies have begun developing construction techniques for use in building bases on the moon and even Mars.

In short, the Japanese are pursuing their space ventures with all the thoroughness and enthusiasm that made them world leaders in electronics and autos. Says Ray Williamson, a senior analyst for the U.S. Congressional Office of Technology Assessment: "The U.S. ought to keep a clear eye on their developing capabilities. Progress is steady, and the Japanese are serious about space."

Japan's progress is all the more impressive considering the obstacles its program has faced over the years. The U.S. and the Soviet Union originally used military-rocket technology to get a head start on scientific launches. But Japan's constitutional curbs on military activity forced its rocket scientists to start from scratch, and tight government budgets have not helped. In the current fiscal year, for example, Japan has allocated some $1.07 billion for space, about 10% of the U.S. figure. And launches are limited to only 90 days a year, half in winter and half in summer, because tuna fishermen near the space center claim that rockets are dangerous and scare away fish.

Another problem has been the more than two decades of bureaucratic rivalry between two Japanese space groups, the National Space Development Agency and the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science. ISAS focuses on academic scientific research, like the Muses-A mission, while NASDA's main business is to launch satellites for more practical uses, such as weather observation and communications. Combining these agencies and eliminating overlapping functions would make for a more efficient program.