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Ogasawara Lab
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A lab that studies reusable space transportation vehicles flying at hypersonic speeds through high-speed aerodynamics.
AboutAbout the lab
Toward a world where anyone can go to space
The Ogasawara Lab studies high-speed aerodynamics and aerospace vehicle systems, aiming to realize fully reusable space transportation vehicles capable of hypersonic flight.
In contrast to most current rockets, which are expendable, the lab uses computer calculations to study methods for recovering and reusing vehicles, as well as the aerodynamic forces and heat that vehicles flying at high speed experience.
According to the lab's website, it has stopped accepting new students going on to graduate school from the 2026 academic year.
Undergraduates who have not yet been assigned to a lab can visit the lab for a tour at any time.
Key terms
- Hypersonic
- Flight at speeds far above the speed of sound. This lab deals with flight above Mach 10
- Aerodynamic heating
- Heat that a vehicle flying at high speed receives from the surrounding atmosphere
- Computational fluid dynamics
- A method of calculating airflow on a computer to study the aerodynamic forces and heat a vehicle experiences
NewsLab news
A master's student received the Poster Presentation Award at the M1 poster session of the Space Science and Technology Course.
A master's student received the Excellence Award for a poster presentation at the research results presentation of the Space Science and Technology Course.
ResearchResearch themes
The Ogasawara Lab aims for a world where anyone can go to space, and conducts research toward realizing fully reusable space transportation vehicles that can fly at hypersonic speeds above Mach 10. It addresses problems specific to high-speed flow, such as aerodynamic heating during hypersonic flight and interference between strong shock waves, as well as vehicle configurations and flight modes.
*Illustrative imageHypersonic Computational Fluid Dynamics
To design fully reusable space transportation systems, it is necessary to know the aerodynamic forces on the vehicle and the heat input from the atmosphere. Because flight experiments cannot be done often, the lab reproduces flight conditions and actual-vehicle conditions in simulations to study them.
*Illustrative imageFully Reusable Space Transportation Systems
The lab studies fully reusable space transportation vehicles, aiming to reduce launch costs and enable reuse. It examines the ascent trajectory from rocket sizing to orbit insertion, and also the flight paths and flight methods for recovering the acceleration stage after separation.
*Illustrative imageSupersonic and Low-Speed Wind Tunnel Experiments
The lab owns a suction-type supersonic wind tunnel and a small low-speed wind tunnel. Both are currently being refurbished in order to understand airflow characteristics and improve performance. Once the refurbishment is finished, the lab will conduct wind tunnel experiments with them.
*Illustrative imageReuse of Upper-Stage Rockets
Aiming to recover and reuse expendable upper-stage rockets, the lab is conducting joint research with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The concept is that, after launch, the upper stage returns by withstanding aerodynamic heating with built-in deployable heat-resistant equipment.
MembersFaculty
The Ogasawara Lab's members consist of faculty, master's students, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorHiroshi Ogasawara
- Assistant ProfessorGaku Fukushima
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: “Hypersonic Research Engine in the Hypersonic Tunnel Facility (grc-1973-c-02625-2)” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
- Hypersonic Computational Fluid Dynamics: “Shockwave pattern around a T-38C observed with Background-Oriented Schlieren photography (1)” NASA & US Air Force: J.T. Heineck / Ed Schairer / Maj. Jonathan Orso / Maj. Jeremy Vanderhal / Public domain (cropped)
- Fully Reusable Space Transportation Systems: “Space Shuttle Columbia launching” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
- Supersonic and Low-Speed Wind Tunnel Experiments: “Model in Supersonic Wind Tunnel GPN” NACA / Public domain (cropped)
- Reuse of Upper-Stage Rockets: “Early Production Continues on Advanced Upper Stage for NASA Moon Rocket (maf-20231024-eus-loxbreakover09)” NASA/Michael DeMocker / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (塚原研究室): “Heat-transmittance-means2” Kmecfiunit, cmglee / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (
青野研究室): “ZALA 421-12” QwasERqwasER at English Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped) - Related lab (上野研究室): “Bubbles inside boiling water” Snehit Jamere / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (田口研究室): “X43a2 nasa scramjet” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
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