``There will not be any more J-1 launches following the launch of the second rocket in the summer of 2001,'' said Takashi Endo, spokesman for the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA), the semi-governmental space agency.

Instead, he said, the agency will develop a similar rocket at lower cost using parts imported from overseas.

``We will ask Japanese companies to take charge of the actual development of the rocket, but some parts, such as engines, will be imported from the United States or Russia, where some inexpensive but quality items are available.''

The J-1 was used largely to send smaller satellites into low-level orbit and Endo said Japan considers it essential to maintain such a launch capability.

The decision to eliminate the rocket follows a 1998 report by the Management and Coordination Agency showing that the J-1 rocket development program, and the concurrent research rocket development program sponsored by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), each cost more than similar development projects in other countries, he said.

The report, which noted that both programs lacked budget controls and goals, recommended the J-1 be eliminated unless costs were brought down.

The first J-1 rocket, launched in 1996, cost 4.8 billion yen ($42.8 million), two to four times the cost of a similar rocket overseas.

Endo said the decision was made to abandon the J-1 project after investigations showed it would be difficult to keep costs under two billion yen per rocket as recommended by the agency report. The cost of building and launching the second J-1 is expected to total 3.5 billion yen.

The cost target for the new rocket made with foreign parts is set at around three billion yen, he added.

Japan's space program has often been criticised for its high costs and frequent mishaps, attributed in part to the division of responsibility for the program among no fewer than five government ministries.

Each launch of Japan's flagship H-2 rocket to place a satellite into geostationary orbit costs close to 19 billion yen, about double the cost of competitors such as the European Space Agency's Ariane rocket.

In February 1998, an H-2 failed to properly launch a satellite, wasting an estimated 60 billion yen or more.

A cheaper version of the H-2, the H-2A, scheduled for its maiden launch early in 2000, is expected to cost less than 8.5 billion yen, Endo said. He added that NASDA does not expect any of its other projects to become a target of cost-cutters.

An official at the Education Ministry said it too had been asked to cut the cost of developing its newest rocket, the Mu5.

He added that, as a result, the ministry planned to trim some 450 million yen off the total 6.8 billion yen cost. ``But our researchers tell us this may be quite hard.''