Yoji Furuhama, head of Japan's space agency signed the document whereby Japan will contribute data from its Alos satellite to other charter members or the United Nations when required.

The Space and Major Disasters charter, which came into being in 2000, also includes the space agencies of the European Union, France, Canada and Argentina, along with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Indian Space Research Organization.

The charter aims at providing a unified system of space data acquisition and delivery to those affected by natural or man-made disasters through authorized users, and was invoked during the recent Asian tsunami catastrophe.

An authorized user, including the civil defence or security services of a charter member, can request the emergency mobilisation of the various agencies to obtain data and information on a disaster occurrence with a single call to a 24-hour operator.

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