For years, small manufacturers in the greater Tokyo area have been trying to market their technologies for space-related projects, hoping that work by their master craftspeople will find its way into rockets and satellites.

It is not a far-fetched pursuit, given that the highly skilled workers in these back-street workshops produce many precision components for automakers and other industries. And some in fact are already suppliers for space projects.

But whether such work can become a viable business is another matter. Insiders say it's tough making money from space-related work due to a lack of steady demand.

Last month, at a nondescript building in a suburb of Yokohama, a technician monitored a computer screen next to a huge instrument designed to measure tiny movements in three dimensions.

The room sits on a thick concrete foundation designed to dampen any vibrations that might interfere with the precise measurements required.

The machine is operated by the Japan Aerospace Parts Association Co., a venture set up last year by a group of small and medium-size businesses in Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture.

"Our main work is to conduct quality assurance and take orders for our member companies in space-related work," said President Yasuhiro Senda.

JASPA was born from the Manten project, launched two years ago by local manufacturers to sell technologies such as precision metalwork to aerospace companies.

The group determined that the space business was too costly and unprofitable to enter as individual firms.

Senda said aerospace requires cutting-edge technology, and Japan needs to remain competitive in this field if it wishes to be counted among the world's technology powerhouses.

"Unless we rise to the challenges of difficult technologies, (rivals like) China will soon catch up with us," he said.

Over the past year, the company won four space-related contracts from a large firm involved in aerospace projects and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

"We expect space-related work to expand in the future" as an increasing number of large companies begin to subcontract more work, he said.

But Senda acknowledged that space is a difficult business in which to make money. Indeed, most of the firm's quality assurance work is for other fields, including automobiles and industrial machinery.

As a practical matter, the firm is betting more on aircraft-related work for future growth, and is currently working on developing seaplanes.

Asked why space-related business offer few opportunities, Senda and others point to the small size of Japan's space program, which has lagged behind world leaders in the field.

Over the past decade, Japan has successfully launched only about 20 rockets, whereas the U.S. and Europe boast figures five to 10 times greater.

Japan' space program is too small to support a large number of small aerospace workshops.

The government's entire space exploration budget was 238.7 billion yen for fiscal 2005, minuscule compared with the domestic auto industry, which boasts annual sales of 40 trillion yen-plus.

One of the biggest problems is the size of the orders. They are often too small to be profitable for small-scale factories, said Hiroyuki Okamoto, general manager of the space systems division at Astro Research Corp., a private, Yokohama-based aerospace engineering company.

Okamoto said his company has a hard time placing orders with manufacturers.

"They ask us, 'How many units do you want -- 10,000 or 20,000?' " he said. "When we tell them we only need five, some owners get angry and say 'You must be joking.' "

Okamoto said his company procures 80 percent of the parts for its spacecraft and satellites from abroad, and China, Russia, Ukraine and Israel can make parts more cheaply than domestic suppliers.

But some manufacturers say it isn't the quest for money that makes space-related work worthwhile.

Nihon Supin Co., a Yokohama-based metal spinning concern, has been supplying nose cones for Japan's H-II and H-IIA rockets for a decade.

"We ship five to six pairs annually, with one as a spare, and we don't get orders every year," said Hiromichi Honda, head of sales at the firm. "There are fluctuations depending on the country's space budget. So far we have supplied a total of 50 sets or so."

Spinning is a metal-forming process in which sheet of metal is placed on a lathe and shaped into cylinders, cones or other forms.

Honda said making rocket nose cones is time-consuming and can be handled only by experienced craftspeople. Yet all that effort barely turns a profit.

"It takes two months to make one (cone). And it occupies one machine during the entire time, blocking other work," he said. "But for all that trouble, what we get paid isn't worth it."

Still, he stressed that making parts for rockets is like getting a seal of approval for the firm's quality, helping it to win the trust of potential clients, as well as boosting workers' morale.

"Space-related work has not yet become a proper business" in Japan, Honda said. "It is more about status."