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Astrodynamics and Space Systems Lab
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The lab studies space flight dynamics, applying it to space exploration missions.
AboutAbout the lab
Learning space engineering on the front lines of exploration
ASSL studies space flight dynamics (astrodynamics) for application to the space exploration missions unique to the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science.
The lab works on trajectory design, methods for exploring deep space, spacecraft system design, and guidance, navigation, and control, through both experiments and analysis.
Research themes arise from discoveries made through involvement in JAXA projects, and the lab places importance on applying its results to future projects.
Students also have opportunities to interact with staff of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science through research and projects.
Key terms
- Space flight dynamics
- The field that uses mechanics to study how spacecraft and satellites move in space and applies the results to their design. Also called astrodynamics.
- Solar radiation pressure
- A very small pushing force produced when sunlight strikes an object. It can change a spacecraft's orientation.
- Rendezvous
- When a spacecraft approaches another spacecraft or a celestial body and comes close to it.
NewsLab news
View More ↗ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies space flight dynamics, the mechanics of spacecraft trajectories and motion, with a focus on applications to space exploration missions. Its themes are tied to real missions, ranging from Hayabusa2 trajectory design to navigation and guidance technologies for future exploration.
*Illustrative imageSolar Radiation Pressure and Attitude Control
The lab builds models that accurately represent solar radiation pressure, which disturbs a spacecraft's orientation, by measuring even how surfaces reflect light. By measuring test pieces of Hayabusa2's solar panels, it explained the discrepancy with flight data.
*Illustrative imageHayabusa2 Mission Design
The lab led the engineering side of Hayabusa2's trajectory and operations, and designed, together with project members, the selection of the destination asteroid Ryugu and the round-trip trajectory. It also contributes to research on capsule reentry.
*Illustrative imageMotion of Target Markers
Using simulations and microgravity experiments in a drop tower, the lab investigates why the target markers that Hayabusa2 dropped onto the asteroid as landmarks are resistant to bouncing, and provides guidelines for their design.
*Illustrative imageRelative Navigation and Guidance in Deep Space
The lab develops navigation and guidance methods in which a spacecraft, from far away where the distance to the target cannot be measured directly, estimates the target's orbit using only its own sensors and approaches it to rendezvous.
MembersFaculty
ASSL members include faculty, secretaries, researchers, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorYuichi Tsuda
- ProfessorOsamu Mori
- ProfessorTakanao Saiki
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: “Hayabusa2 approaching asteroid” DLR German Aerospace Center / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Solar Radiation Pressure and Attitude Control: “IKAROS-SAIL” テレストレラッソ / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Hayabusa2 Mission Design: “Asteroid Ryugu (ann19006a)” JAXA, University of Tokyo & collaborators / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Motion of Target Markers: “Images of asteroid Ryugu from the wide angle Optical Navigation Cameras (ONC-W1 and ONC-W2) via Hayabusa2” JAXA ほか
（は やぶさ2 ONCチーム） / CC BY 4.0 (cropped) - Relative Navigation and Guidance in Deep Space: “Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 Rendezvous - GPN” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Nakasuka-Funase-Ikari Lab): “FORESAIL-1 Flight Model” Petri Niemelä / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Ogawa-Odagiri Lab): “BepiColombo spacecraft model” National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Himeno Lab): “Compressor case from turbojet” Olivier Cleynen / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Onoda-Minesugi Lab): “First NASA ISINGLASS rocket launch” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
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