The Japanese civil space agency says it is still committed to developing reusable launchers and advanced cargo rockets. The National Space Development Agency (NASDA) of Japan affirmed it will continue development of the large H-IIA space booster and a new round of technology research, and says the Japanese government has endorsed its plan.

The J-II rocket program, aimed at development of a medium lift cargo rocket, will now include demonstrations of advanced technology that could be applied to other Japanese space vehicles. Chief among these will be tests of a new liquid oxygen fueling system and development of a completely automated ground processing system to check out, countdown, and launch space vehicles. The automated system is aimed at reducing the cost of conducting NASDA launches.

New reusable launch technologies will also be tested by the J-II, including fly-back boosters and new components such as heat shields and payload systems. But Japanese officials said they were skeptical that the cost of developing a working fly-back rocket booster would justify its high development costs. Such a winged booster would separate from a speeding cargo vehicle and return to land on a runway near the launching site.

Japan's H-IIA rocket competes in size and payload lifting class with the French Ariane 4 and 5, Russian Proton and Sea Launch, and the U.S. Atlas III series. The smaller J-II would compete with Boeing's Delta II and III rockets.