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Takahashi Lab
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A lab that studies beam-powered rockets that fly without carrying fuel, as well as plasma propulsion.
AboutAbout the lab
New propulsion technology using plasma
The Takahashi Lab studies the properties of plasma and the propulsion engineering technologies that use it.
The lab uses laser and millimeter-wave beams to run experiments on rockets that fly without carrying fuel.
For electric thrusters such as Hall thrusters, the lab investigates the phenomena inside them through numerical computer simulation.
Through both experiments and computation, the lab proposes new propulsion technologies that make use of the space environment.
Key terms
- Plasma
- A state in which part of a gas has separated into electrically charged particles that can be moved by electric and magnetic forces
- Electric propulsion
- A method of spacecraft propulsion that obtains thrust by accelerating propellant using electric power
- Hall thruster
- An electric thruster that accelerates ions by combining an electric field and a magnetic field
NewsLab news
A paper on a microwave-driven in-tube accelerator is published in Journal of Propulsion and Power
A rocket in a tube is successfully accelerated by irradiating it with a twisted light beam
A paper on generating ring-shaped millimeter-wave beams is published in Scientific Reports
A paper on interferometric measurement of millimeter-wave discharge is published in Physics of Plasmas
A demonstration experiment succeeds in propelling a rocket with a tractor millimeter-wave beam
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies the properties of plasma, an ionized gas, both as a fluid and as a collection of particles. Building on this, it researches propulsion technologies that make use of the space environment, through both experiments and numerical simulation.
*Illustrative imageLaser propulsion
The lab studies rockets that fly without carrying fuel by turning air into plasma with a laser fired from the ground. It built a thruster with multiple paraboloids that restores its attitude even when the vehicle drifts out of position, and succeeded in free flight and in experiments that irradiate the vehicle while tracking its position in flight.
*Illustrative imageMicrowave propulsion
The lab works on methods that obtain thrust without fuel by using millimeter-wave beams. It proposed a propulsion method in which the vehicle is pulled toward a beam directed at it from the front, and another method in which the vehicle is accelerated inside a tube, and showed experimentally that both produce thrust.
*Illustrative imageAir-breathing electric propulsion
The lab aims to put into practical use a method for very low Earth orbit at altitudes of 100 to 300 km, in which the thin surrounding atmosphere is taken in and used as propellant. Using an original intake that compresses the atmosphere, it succeeded in igniting and accelerating plasma in a rarefied high-speed wind tunnel that simulates this environment.
*Illustrative imageElectric propulsion with onboard propellant
The lab investigates the inside of Hall thrusters and helicon plasma thrusters using numerical simulations that track the motion of particles. It aims to clarify the mechanism of anomalous transport, in which electrons flow across the magnetic field, and to build models that can be used in design.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Takahashi Lab are faculty and students in the doctoral, master's, and undergraduate programs.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorMasayuki Takahashi
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Write a lab reviewAnonymous · Your draft is saved if you stopRelatedLabs similar to Takahashi Lab
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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: “Nasa--methalox-rocket-engine-test-fiiring” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
- Laser propulsion: “ESO's new compact laser guide star unit tested (ann11039a)” ESO/T. Kasper (AVSO) / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Microwave propulsion: “Gyrotron plateforme” Rama / CC BY-SA 2.5 (cropped)
- Air-breathing electric propulsion: “Supersonic Wind Tunnel Test Section - GPN” NASA/GRC / Public domain (cropped)
- Electric propulsion with onboard propellant: “Ion Engine Test Firing - GPN” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Ohnishi-Sato (Shintaro) Lab): “Jet Propulsion Laboratory Plasma Flow Research Lab” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Biwa Lab): “Flame-tube-resonance-overlay” MikeRun / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Shoji Lab): “150 deg water contact angle” Plasmatreat Khoren / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Nishizawa-Tottori-Osaki Lab): “Superabsorber Hydrogel KSG 2917 pK” Petra Klawikowski / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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