Japan aims for moon base by 2025

On the heels of its successful rocket launch on the weekend, Japan announced plans to send people to a station on the moon by 2025.

"We will include [the lunar station] as one of the future goals in our new long-term vision, which we are going to submit with the government's Space Activity Commission by the end of March," an official with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency told Agence France-Presse on Monday.

Japan's space agency, or JAXA, also aims to set up a satellite system to transmit alerts for disasters like earthquakes or tsunamis.

Satellites would send information to cellphones on Earth, added the official, who asked not to be named.

The official was responding to a news story in Monday's edition of the Japanese daily Mainichi Shimbun, which reported JAXA is drafting a long-term plan to develop vehicles like NASA's space shuttles by 2025.

Japan's space plans call for robots to explore the moon by 2015. Within two decades, technology could allow humans to stay on a solar-powered lunar research base for extended periods.

The international space industry doubts Japan will become a major player at launching commercial satellites, but its technology could contribute to regional tsunami warnings.

On Saturday, a rocket designed and built by the Japanese successfully placed a satellite into orbit. The $155 million US satellite will assist weather forecasts and aircraft navigation.

In 1972, Japan became the fourth country to launch a satellite. Aside from its lunar mission, the country aims to be the first to collect and retrieve samples from an asteroid.

• FROM NOV. 29, 2003: Japan destroys satellites after launch fails

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In November 2003, one of Japan's H-2A rockets exploded in midair, temporarily grounding its space plans until the technical problem was fixed.

The setback came one month after China successfully launched its first astronaut into orbit.

Japan's $2.5 billion US space budget can afford one or two launches per year. Although Japanese space officials say they are not in a space race with China, a government panel recommended studying the possibility of establishing a manned space program.

A perceived nuclear threat from communist North Korea may also be contributing to Japan's space activity. In a break from its peaceful space policy, Japan began launching spy satellites in 2003.