The May 27-28 symposium, which discussed topics ranging from exploration of the solar system, to manned space flight cooperation and space science, proposed the setting up of working groups to research joint disaster observation with the potential of spacecraft hardware exchange.

While parameters have yet to be fixed, a pilot project will look into developing an warning system for earthquakes and methods for monitoring oil spills and floods as part of a Franco-Japanese contribution to NASA's International Global Observation Strategy, said Tad Inada, director of NASDA's external relations department.

A global monitoring system would require a minimum of two satellites, said Inada. Inada also predicted that CNES would build its version within four years.

According to agreements reached at the conference each side has agreed to set up three working groups to hammer out how to coordinate space and ground segment and data utilization technologies.

"The working groups will be set up by the end of June and will conduct one year of research before reporting back next April or May. This was a significant step," said Inada.

The announcement has come as a boost for the 3.8 ton ALOS, currently in the basic design phase, which has suffered a 6-month delay from its early 2002 launch by an H-2A, due to budget constraints.

Designed mainly as a cartographical and environmental monitoring satellite, ALOS will mount three sensors. The Panchromatic Remote Sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping (PRISM) will conduct mapping and cartography. The Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer-2 (AVNIR-2), the successor to a sensor currently deployed on NASDA's Advanced Earth Observing Satellite, will conduct coastal observation for regional environmental monitoring.

In addition, ALOS will carry a next-generation Phased Array L-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR). While current Japanese Synthetic Aperture Radar technology, as mounted on the 1991-launched Japanese Earth Resources Satellite-1, can measure only horizontal ground movements down to a few centimeters, the next-generation system will be capable of day-and night-land observation at a greater swath-width suitable for global disaster monitoring, according to Norio Saito, director of NASDA's earth Observation department.

According to Masanobu Shimada, an associate senior engineer at NASDA's Earth observation research center, an ideal system would have to have a recurrent orbit of 10 days to achieve adequate timely monitoring. Instead ALOS' recurrent period will be approximately 45 days from its sun synchronous 700 km orbit.

However, NASDA's Earth observation department welcomed the project saying it was an important step for utilization of technology in space. "For Japan, we can stimulate the promotion of disaster monitoring and the ALOS project through the exchange of information and joint-study. For the world, we can demonstrate the effectiveness of satellite observation for disaster monitoring," said Saito.

The inception of a joint problem may not involve redesigns so much as ensuring compatibility, said Inada, as both sides will have to decide how to assemble and integrate the system from very different perspectives. "Our philosophies are different," he said.

Despite the high political profile given by France, the Paris meeting came about as a result of an inter-governmental agreement signed by President Chirac and Japan�s Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto in Tokyo last November.

Mitsugi Chiba, director of the Science and Technology Agency's space policy division, said that the program would be viewed on its individual merits within a shrinking space budget. "We have so many projects already, we'll need a much bigger budget next year. [Prime Minister] Hashimoto doesn't notice such small issues. His interest is on the total budget level [for science and technology] so we must work out what kind of new satellites we can manage and what should be cut," he said.

Inada said that the program would not be affected by the loss of the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS). While there was always a chance of further delays to the ALOS budget, these delays would have no connection to recent events.