A consortium of several companies, including Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., plans to jointly develop with the government a small rocket, the GX, next year, consortium sources said Monday.

Galaxy Express also aims to set up a business for launching commercial satellites on Christmas Island in Kiribati sometime after 2006.

If successful, it will be the first time for a Japanese commercial satellite to be launched using a base overseas.

IHI, Mitsubishi Corp. and other companies formed the consortium in March and it is expected to entrust the development of the rocket's first stage in April to Lockheed Martin Corp. of the United States.

The GX is 43 meters long, 3.3 meters in diameter and possesses about one-third the liftoff capacity of the government's H-IIA rocket. It can launch a 3-ton satellite into orbit at an altitude of 200 km.

The sources said the first stage will combine a Russian-made engine and the fuel tank of a Lockheed rocket to reduce costs, while the second stage will employ a new engine using natural gas being developed by IHI at the request of the National Space Development Agency.

Galaxy did not provide the exact costs of the development, but said it could range from about 40 billion yen to 50 billion yen, they said.

The company is capable of launching 35 to 55 small and midsize commercial satellites annually.

Galaxy will initially launch the GX on Tanegashima Island, Kagoshima Prefecture, in 2006. Rockets are usually launched from Tanegashima, since there is a limited window for launching due to local fishing concerns.

Galaxy chose Christmas Island, situated some 2,000 km south of Hawaii, since it can use the Earth's rotation speed to economize the fuel used in liftoff, sources said.