In support of a new space policy that places security as top priority for the next decade, Japan's Finance Ministry has approved a combined space budget of 324.5 billion yen ($2.75 billion) for fiscal year 2015, an 18.5 percent increase over the current fiscal year that ends March 30. The budget, which encompasses the space activity of 11 government ministries, includes sharp rises for two national security-related projects, according to budget documents released Jan. 26 by the Office of National Space Policy (ONSP). The office was set up within the prime minister's Cabinet office in 2012 to give more political control of Japan's space program and stop interministry turf wars. The Cabinet office will receive 22.3 billion yen for space activities, a rise of 68 percent, with most of the funding going toward building out Japan's seven-satellite Quasi-Zenith regional navigation system. The Cabinet secretariat, also closely affiliated with the prime minister's office, and which controls the nation's fleet of reconnaissance satellites, will receive 69.7 billion yen, a 14 percent boost. The four-satellite Information Gathering Satellite constellation is primarily tasked to monitor North Korean missile sites.
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