Transforming Japan's space policy-making

Since its beginning the objective of Japanese space policy has been to ‘catch up’ with advanced spacefaring countries. However, this catching-up strategy is now facing several difficulties, because of the downturn in the economy and changing political and technological circumstances. In such circumstances the Japanese space community has realized the need to change its national space strategy. In 2005 a group of powerful Japanese politicians issued a report on constructing a national space strategy, which recommended that the government establish a new decision-making structure by creating a new Basic Law of Space Activities. These efforts underline the need for Japanese space to shift the focus of its policy from technological development to applications.