To meet an increasingly busy schedule, Japan's leading space policy body, the Science and Technology Agency (STA), has announced that it intends to dramatically extend the nation's launch window period. However the STA and fellow protagonists, the National Space development Agency of Japan (NASDA) and the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), all face a year of arcane negotiations with local interest groups to realize the plan.

Although not officially confirmed, STA, NASDA and ISAS are looking to extend the launch window to a minimum of 140 days and a maximum of 200 days for Japan's only launch center based at Tanegashima on the southern tip of Japan's Kyushuu Island, said the launch center director, Yasunori Matogawa.

The extension of the window has become vital for the Japanese space program as NASDA and ISAS both need more flexibility to forge ahead with various satellite and solar system probe projects. Added urgency is required following the successful completion of a deal late last year between Hughes Satellite and Communications and Tokyo based Rocket Systems Corp. to launch 20 Hughes satellites via Japan's NASDA-developed next generation heavy duty rocket, the H-2A.

At present Japan's space program is limited to two windows divided into 49 day August-September and 49 day January-February slots. The constricted schedule developed out of opposition dating back nearly 30 years by a 40-member cooperative of fishermen's unions from five prefectures (counties) surrounding the site. The fishermen claim the launches decrease their catches and customarily demand both a year's advance notice of all launches and annual compensation for the disruption caused.

"The rockets sure do disturb the fish, there's the light and there's the noise. We can't prove they (the launches) disturb the fish, but we're very worried about the issue, that's the most important point," said Sachio Nakamura, the fishermen's chief negotiator.

As part of the deal, the government currently doles out around 400 million yen each year to the cooperatives, according to a source who refused to be named. Designated as "development grants," the money is targeted at such things as infrastructure development, for example improving harbor and refrigeration facilities, said STA's chief negotiator Yasutaka Moriguchi, who is also the director of STA's aeronautics and space development division. Moriguchi refused to term the payments "compensation."

However when Space Net contacted the Environmental Agency (EA) officials there were unable to comment on whether the few launches Japan does mount each year do have any deletorious effects on the local ecosystems. The subject had never been studied, no complaints had been recorded and the rocket launches were a non-issue, said EA's Shinouske Unisuga. Similarly, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) held detailed and accurate data on local fishing catches and types of fish caught but had no data on whether rocket launches had had any effect on catches, said Kazuyuki Tsurumi, senior officer of MAFF's PR department.

At present, after they have granted permission for each launch, all the fishermen are compelled to do is retire their boats between two and five kilometers from the launch pads at lift-off time, said Matogawa.

"The government will take care of us, we hope. Right now we have a few issues to resolve, but these don't pose significant problems. From our standpoint the government has been reasonable in the past," Nakamura said.

The STA plans to adopt a two-pronged strategy that is shrouded in secrecy. Informal approaches started last month and will continue until next March, when all the parties will officially meet and hammer out more exact parameters acceptable to everyone.

The fishermen's union's response looks very mixed. "The government has been very reasonable, but from now on who knows? Think about it, we may have more problems when we really start negotiating. Or think about it this way. When we talk to the government we'll make sure we'll get what we need, no matter what," he added.

"It's a very touchy subject," responded Moriguchi. STA is expressing confidence that an acceptable deal can and will be struck, but refused to say whether the fishermen will receive more 'aid.'

Historically, the current arrangements involve a tortuous process where each June a 10-man high level committee does a round-robin tour of the five prefectures surrounding the launch center. Representatives visit each prefecture explaining the following year's schedule to get the unions to agree to new launch proposals. "These two weeks are very hard work. We propose the launch plan and they discuss it with us before giving their permission," said Matogawa.

However the negotiations look like a fait accompli as STA has already budgeted a 70 percent increase, to 700 million yen for FY98, to upgrade facilities at the 8.6 million square meter site. "They will not refuse our proposals. It's only a problem of the length of the window. The negotiations at this stage are centering around which months we should open and how much each should be kept open," said Moriguchi.

According to Moriguchi, all parties will continue to negotiate on a yearly basis and will continue to respect the necessity of not disturbing the area's peak fishing periods in April and May. On the flip side, STA will look for launch opportunities in every other month. "Providing we avoid the crucial fishing seasons, I think it's possible to reach an amicable compromise," he said.

The announcement also comes as NASDA has already begun construction of a 25 billion yen twin vehicle assembly building and launch pad in preparation for the H-2A. The new site will become the Tanegashima Center's forth launch area and is adjacent to the present H-2 site at the Yoshinobu complex. The new assembly building is being built parallel to the existing facilities, with the new launch pad only hundreds of meters from its twin. "The new pad will enable us to launch much more frequently," commented Moriguchi.

While the STA looks set to prevail over the fishermen's opposition through using compromise sweetened by money, it seems yet to have won over their hearts.

"Of course we're scared. It's terrible. We can't afford the Government to make such kinds of mistakes," replied Nakamura when asked if the recent Delta 2 disaster had frightened them.

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