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Kobayashi Lab
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The lab aims to build rockets that fly on liquid hydrogen and can be reused again and again.
AboutAbout the lab
Toward a future where entire rockets are reused repeatedly
Kobayashi Lab conducts research and development on reusable rockets fueled by liquid hydrogen at the JAXA Institute of Space and Astronautical Science.
Until now, only parts of rockets have been reused, but the lab aims to realize a fully reusable rocket, in which the entire vehicle is reused.
When combined with liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen gives engines their highest performance, and it also has the advantage of producing no carbon dioxide when burned.
Key terms
- Reusable rocket
- A rocket whose vehicle can be recovered after launch, refurbished, and flown again
- Air-breathing engine
- An engine that takes in oxygen from the atmosphere to burn its fuel, which reduces the amount of oxidizer that must be carried
- Oxidizer
- A substance that supplies the oxygen needed to burn fuel. Rockets carry liquid oxygen and similar substances on board
ResearchResearch themes
The lab is carrying out research and development toward fully reusable rockets fueled by liquid hydrogen. It is involved in the reusable rocket experimental vehicle of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) and in the development of a new engine that uses oxygen from the atmosphere.
*Illustrative imageFully Reusable Liquid Hydrogen Rockets
This is research and development on reusable rockets that use liquid hydrogen as fuel and liquid oxygen as oxidizer. The aim is to realize a fully reusable rocket, in which the whole vehicle is reused rather than just part of it.
*Illustrative imageRV-X Reusable Rocket Experimental Vehicle
ISAS is developing RV-X, a single-stage reusable rocket experimental vehicle that takes off and lands vertically, and is repeatedly conducting ground firing tests at the Noshiro Testing Center. The lab is solving, one by one, challenges unique to full reusability, such as fine control of engine thrust during landing.
*Illustrative imageAir-Breathing Engines
These are engines that use oxygen from the atmosphere until the vehicle reaches space. Because less oxidizer needs to be carried, the vehicle can carry more payload or be made smaller. The lab also plans to develop combined-cycle engines that combine an air-breathing engine with a rocket engine.
MembersFaculty
- ProfessorHiroaki Kobayashi
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “RVT-9 P4037821a” Kestrel / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Fully Reusable Liquid Hydrogen Rockets: “J-2X engine (SSC-20120914-S01521)” NASA Stennis Space Center / Public domain (cropped)
- RV-X Reusable Rocket Experimental Vehicle: “Falcon 9 first stage at LZ-1(two)” SpaceX Photos / CC0 (cropped)
- Air-Breathing Engines: “Ramjet (PSF)” Pearson Scott Foresman / Public domain (cropped)
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