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TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Mitsubishi Electric Corp. said Friday it had overcharged on defense and space-related projects ordered by the Defense Ministry, the Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

The ministry and the center said they will not in principle sign project contracts with the electrical machinery manufacturer until the situation is fully uncovered and the company repays what it overcharged. The space agency, known as JAXA, also said it has banned the company from bidding for its projects.

The company has not revealed the amount of overcharged costs.

Mitsubishi Electric overcharged the ministry for the designing of a medium-range surface-to-air missile and inflated fees for the center's project on intelligence satellites that was subcontracted to JAXA. The company padded personnel costs for both projects.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura called the incident "truly regrettable." At a news conference, he also urged the company to "conduct a thorough investigation and respond stringently."

The Defense Ministry said the company tampered with data related to its working process on the missile project, for which the ministry placed an order for around 33.6 billion yen in fiscal 2009. The missiles are deployed in the Tokyo metropolitan area for air defense.

According to sources close to the matter, a person related to Mitsubishi Electric blew the whistle around last fall, which was conveyed to the Defense Ministry and JAXA.

The ministry conducted a probe on the company's manufacturing plant in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture. The plant develops and makes equipment for the ministry as well as satellites.

During the probe, which included hearings with employees and the investigation of documents on the working process, the ministry discovered documents showing working hours and employee numbers that did not reflect actual conditions, the ministry said.

In response to the ministry's probe, Mitsubishi Electric admitted it had engaged in inflating costs for the projects. The ministry is investigating the scale of the overcharging and when it began, the sources said.

The government plans to recover the overpayment from the company and press it to prevent a recurrence, Fujimura said.

The company has won orders for several intelligence satellites from 2002 to the present, costing around 30 billion yen to 40 billion yen for each satellite. The projects have been recommissioned by the center to JAXA.

Mitsubishi Electric issued a statement saying, "We are very sorry and deeply apologize for causing considerable trouble for those concerned."