Topic: Introduction to Advanced Space Propulsion Systems
Speaker: Prof. KIMIYA KOMURASAKI (University of Tokyo)
Time: 14:00-17:00, July 11
Venue: D1026, Main Building, Shahe Campus
Content:
（1）Thirty-Year Development of Hall Thruster in the University of Tokyo
（2）Beamed Energy Propulsion for Future Space Launchers
Abstract：
Many recent studies have been devoted to wireless power transfer systems for flying objects using electromagnetic-wave radiation such as lasers and microwaves. The use of electric power presents many benefits because of its efficiency, non-toxicity, and non-explosive features. Beamed energy propulsion used as a space transportation system gains its propulsive energy wirelessly from outside of the vehicle using beamed energy. Various propulsion mechanisms have been proposed as alternatives to conventional chemical rocket propulsion. Space launch systems are powered by an electromagnetic-wave beam irradiating them from the ground. A thruster driven by an atmospheric millimeter-wave discharge, Microwave Rocket, is introduced. In Japan at the National Institute for Quantum and radiological Science and Technology, the improvement of oscillation efficiency using collection of depressed electrical energy enabled output power of greater than 1 MW. A millimeter-wave beam is inferior to a laser beam in directivity, but millimeter-waves are attractive because the cost of gyrotron manufacture is lower than the laser oscillator cost by 2–4 orders of magnitude.
Biography of the Speaker:
Prof. Kimiya Komurasaki is a full professor at Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics, the University of Tokyo. He received his Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Tokyo, Japan, in 1992. He is currently the leader of Komurasaki/koizumi Lab. in Dept. Aeronautics & Astronautics (Hongo Campus). He has published more than 400 journal papers, and served as the Editor-in-Chief of “Japan Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences” from 2014 to 2016. His research areas include Laser Propulsion, Microwave Rocket, Hall Thruster and Diode-Laser Spectroscopy and Computational Fluid Dynamics. His research has been funded by JSPS, JAXA and Honda.
School of Space and Environment
