KUSHIMOTO, Wakayama Prefecture--A site originally envisaged for a nuclear power plant is now on course to become the nation’s first private-sector launch pad for small rockets.

The launch pad will soon take shape on land partly donated by Kansai Electric Power Co. after the company scrapped plans for the nuclear plant nearly two decades ago.

Local officials hold out hopes the space project will help revitalize this town at the southern tip of the Honshu main island.

Kushimoto Mayor Katsumasa Tashima says the town owned a tract of land large enough for the construction of the launch pad thanks to a plot of land donated by the utility.

“We appreciate the fact the nuclear plant did not get built,” he said. “If it had been built, we might have gained from nuclear-related businesses, but we would have missed out on the opportunity to promote the charms of our town.”

A building that houses mission control for the launch pad stands near the tip of the Kii Peninsula where National Route 42 runs along the jagged “riasu” Pacific coastline. A banner featuring a photo of a rocket is seen nearby.

The launch pad, dubbed Space Port Kii, is being built by Tokyo-based Space One Co., whose shareholders include Canon Electronics Inc., the Development Bank of Japan and construction company Shimizu Corp.

Space One plans to launch its first satellite-carrying rocket by the end of March with the aim of 20 launches annually in the mid-2020s.

Satellite images of Earth will be analyzed to support business activities.

With a population of about 15,000, Kushimoto will be promoted as a “rocket town” to attract visitors who want to watch rocket launches, town officials said.

The town office is also providingsss opportunities for children attending elementary school and junior high school to learn about the space industry.

The rocket business is expected to bring in economic benefits worth 67 billion yen ($585 million) in tourism and related industries in 10 years, according to Wakayama prefectural government estimates.

In 2019, the town office leased about 1.3 million square meters of land, including town-owned plots, to Space One at no cost for 20 years after accepting a proposal to build the launch pad.

The leased land includes a plot totaling 298,000 square meters that Kansai Electric donated to the town in 2006 and 2017, officials said.

The size of six baseball stadiums, the plot includes forested areas the company had purchased for its nuclear project.

During the 1960s, the utility viewed the Kii Peninsula as a second hub for nuclear power generation next to Fukui Prefecture and selected candidate sites for nuclear plants, including the town of Koza (present-day Kushimoto).

In 1968, the Koza town assembly adopted a resolution for attracting a nuclear plant.

Real estate records show that Kansai Electric started purchasing forested and residential areas from 1969.

The town was split over the decision to attract a nuclear plant and an anti-nuclear mayor was elected in 1983.

Following the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the former Soviet Union, the town assembly adopted a resolution against the construction in 1990.

Kansai Electric abandoned the nuclear project in 2003.

“We had no prospect of building a plant there due to the tough business environment caused by a prolonged slump in electricity demand among other reasons,” a company representative said.

According to town officials, Kansai Electric said the company had no use for the land anymore when it donated it.

“We decline to comment on particular parcels of land because it could make it difficult for us to go about our business,” the company representative said.

Kayoko Yamaji, 79, and her husband Katsuhiko, 87, who live near the rocket launch site, had been opposed to the nuclear project since the late 1960s.

They supported the anti-nuclear mayor’s campaign and took part in demonstration marches.

The couple did research on nuclear power generation and concluded fishermen will not be able to make a living off of the bounties of the sea if warm wastewater is discharged from a nuclear plant. Katsuhiko is a skin-diving fisherman.

“We can’t expect too much from rockets to bring benefits to the town, but it is heartening to see that a nuclear plant has not been built, leaving a future for children to learn about space,” Kayoko said.