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Komurasaki-Koizumi Lab
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The lab builds new thrusters that propel spacecraft through space using the power of electricity and beams.
AboutAbout the lab
Beyond chemical rockets, toward new space propulsion
The Komurasaki-Koizumi Lab studies new space propulsion systems that move satellites and rockets.
Chemical rockets, which burn fuel, have a limitation: they can carry only a small payload into space.
The lab therefore works on electric propulsion, which uses electric power to accelerate plasma, and beamed propulsion, which flies on microwave or laser energy transmitted from a distance.
By combining diverse fields such as electromagnetic and optical energy, plasma acceleration, and wireless power transfer, the lab aims to create its own original technologies.
Key terms
- Electric propulsion
- A propulsion system that obtains thrust by accelerating propellant with electrical energy instead of burning fuel
- Plasma
- A state in which the atoms or molecules of a gas separate into charged ions and electrons
- Thrust
- The force with which a propulsion system pushes a vehicle forward. It is generated as a reaction to propellant being expelled backward
NewsLab news
A doctoral student received an Outstanding Student Award at the Space Transportation Symposium
A student received the Student Outstanding Presentation Award at the Annual Meeting of the Japan Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences
A master's student received the Student Outstanding Presentation Award at the Conference on Aero-Engines and Space Propulsion
A paper on abnormal discharge and millimeter-wave discharge in microwave rockets was published
A paper on numerical analysis of rarefied gas flow was published in Vacuum
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies propulsion systems that will support future space transportation, focusing on electric propulsion and beamed propulsion. In addition to experiments, the lab also uses numerical simulation to investigate the behavior of plasma inside thrusters.
*Illustrative imageHall Thrusters
These are electric thrusters that use crossed electric and magnetic fields and accelerate ions with the electric field. The lab optimizes the design of high-power anode layer thrusters and investigates plasma oscillations and electron motion inside the thruster through experiments and numerical simulation.
*Illustrative imageIon Thrusters for Microsatellites
The lab studies small ion thrusters that extract ions from microwave-generated plasma to produce thrust. Using xenon and water as propellants, the lab works on improving performance and measuring the plasma inside the thruster.
*Illustrative imageElectrodeless RF Plasma Thrusters
Because no electrodes are in contact with the plasma, there is no electrode erosion, making these electric thrusters long-lasting. With future crewed deep space exploration in mind, the lab investigates the mechanisms that generate and accelerate plasma using radio-frequency electromagnetic fields.
*Illustrative imageSix-Degree-of-Freedom Thrust Measurement
The lab studies a device that measures the thrust in three directions and the torque about each axis produced by thrusters for small satellites. Displacement sensors capture the motion of a plate suspended by springs, and thrust and torque are calculated from it.
MembersFaculty
The Komurasaki-Koizumi Lab consists of faculty members, researchers, academic specialists, secretaries, visiting collaborative researchers, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, and special research students.As of 2026
- ProfessorKimiya KomurasakiPublications ↗
- ProfessorHiroyuki KoizumiPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorAyuto ManabePublications ↗
- Project Assistant ProfessorMaho Matsukura
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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: “Hall Effect Thruster in a vacuum chamber” EXOTRAIL SA / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Hall Thrusters: “Xenon hall thruster” Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Public domain (cropped)
- Ion Thrusters for Microsatellites: “YOSHINO-1 Ion Thruster P4037888” Kestrel / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Electrodeless RF Plasma Thrusters: “IPT-plasma-jet” Endeavour88 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Six-Degree-of-Freedom Thrust Measurement: “EQUULEUS Cubesat” EQUULEUS Project Team, JAXA, University of Tokyo / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (姫野研究室): “Compressor case from turbojet” Olivier Cleynen / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (小川・
小田切研究室): “BepiColombo spacecraft model” National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) / Public domain (cropped) - Related lab (電気推進研究室): “Ion Engine Test Firing - GPN” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (津江・中谷研究室): “Combustion research ( )” Oak Ridge National Laboratory / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
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