TOKYO —

The Diet is poised to enact a bill that is intended to allow the use of space for defense purposes, in a departure from the country’s decades-long policy restricting the development and use of space to nonmilitary purposes, lawmakers said Friday. On Friday, a House of Representatives panel passed the bill with backing from members of the governing Liberal Democratic Party, its coalition partner, the New Komeito party, and the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan.

The bill for the basic law on space proposes that Japan develop and use space to contribute to the promotion of its security, paving the way for the Defense Ministry to develop and operate spy satellites. But it requires the country to abide by the space treaty, honor its international commitments and maintain the pacifist spirit of the Constitution in developing and using space. The space treaty, which came into force in 1967, governs state activities in the exploration and use of outer space.

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