Table of Contents
--What made you decide to join the Kanagawa University Space and Rocket Club?
SUZUKI: It all started when I entered a satellite and spacecraft modelling contest in high school. As I learnt more about satellites and space through model-making, I began to think that I wanted to learn about aerospace from now on.
I had always been interested in the aerospace field, especially rockets and aircraft engines, and I was looking for a laboratory where I could specialise. I had been determined to join the club since I was in high school.
Wada: I was first introduced to the Space Rocket Club by a friend. Until then, I had felt that ‘space’ was a distant and difficult existence, but when I saw them working on research and development with a dream of a wide space, I felt that I could be a part of it.
That's when I became interested in the genre of ‘space business’. As a third-year humanities student when I joined the club, I felt that I could not keep up with the space industry, where the hardware aspect is prominent, and in a way I felt that this was a challenge in the space business.
So I thought that I could boost the industry by developing a business on the ground using the keyword ‘space’ and communicating how interesting it is.
--I heard that the goal of the rocket department (laboratory) is to reach an altitude of 100 km. What are the current challenges?
Wada: I think there are three main challenges: funding, location and community. many companies and organisations are involved in the development of the large rockets launched by JAXA and others, each with the latest technology and large investments.
On the other hand, if we, as a student organisation, were to carry out development alone, we would be limited in terms of funding and location for activities for the evolution of the vehicle. For this reason, we believe that further cooperation between industry and academia is necessary. We also believe that it is necessary to have the ability to ‘communicate’ to make many people aware of the technology of hybrid rockets and to get them interested in our activities.
I believe that it is one of our roles as students involved in space, not only to disseminate our activities and achievements, but also to deliver our dreams to people who will be interested in them in the future.
Suzuki: The ultimate goal of the rocket club and the laboratory is to achieve an altitude of 100 km and to provide a means of transport for private and private satellites and probes into low orbit, the entrance to the thermosphere. In order to achieve this goal as soon as possible, a roadmap was set at the inception of the rocket department and the laboratory.
The current challenge is to update the reach altitude according to this roadmap. However, while the development was mostly in line with this roadmap up to the 2021 launch test, the reach altitude was lowered for the 2022 test.
However, based on the results of the burn test, it was said that the reach altitude would be close to 30 km. In fact, the weather conditions on the day of the test were poor and strong winds were observed, so it was predicted that the rocket would fall out of its originally defined drop range.
Therefore, the launch angle of the launcher was lowered by more than 10 degrees from the normal launch angle, which resulted in the failure to update the arrival altitude. For this reason, we are currently one year behind the actual roadmap.
How to get the orbit back to the original roadmap will be a challenge in the future.
▶︎The laboratory where equipment used for airframe production and small rockets are lined up.
--What are the advantages of the ‘hybrid rockets’ handled by the Kanagawa University Space Rocket Department, and how do they differ from liquid and solid rockets?
Suzuki: The hybrid rockets we produce are safe and have no risk of exploding on a sudden impact. In addition, they are much easier to handle than the aforementioned rockets because they do not have a very complex structure and the size of the rocket body is smaller than that of liquid and solid rockets.
Furthermore, the launcher can be assembled in two days and can be launched immediately. I think these are the advantages of the hybrid rockets we are dealing with.
In addition, the combustion system of the engine is different. Liquid rocket engines have separate oxidiser and fuel tanks, which are mixed in the combustion chamber and either spontaneously ignited or ignited to burn. In solid rocket engines, the motor case also serves as the combustion chamber, and the solid fuel and oxidiser are mixed inside to form a solid, which is then ignited.
Our hybrid rocket has a mechanism that combines the oxidiser tank of a liquid rocket with the motor case of a solid rocket, and burns the liquid oxidiser and solid fuel in the motor case directly connected to the oxidiser tank.
▶︎ Actual launch test The moment the solid fuel is ignited and the rocket is launched with flames shooting out of the jets.
--The privatisation of rocket production by NASA has also made rocket development and space more accessible. How do you see the future of the space industry?
Wada: I think that in the next five to ten years, the space industry will become even closer to our daily lives.
The space industry has the potential to be used in a wide range of markets, including rockets, satellites and the data business that uses them.
We believe that the market can be further expanded by developing these technologies as part of entertainment and daily life in the future.
In recent years, efforts to implement the space industry have been widely covered in the news. Now that it is in the eyes of many people, we believe that the space industry will come alive in many ways by consolidating the groundwork for sustainable technology and demand from the perspective of the ‘consumers’ of the space business.
--What is required for the Japanese private sector to develop the space industry in the future?
Suzuki: I think that in order for Japan and the private sector to further develop the space industry, they need to work together with other companies or other countries. If we can gain a lot of knowledge from each of their specialisations and fields of expertise and create a win-win relationship, I think it will be possible to develop the industry.
It would also be possible to sublimate the space industry by applying the knowledge of companies that have not been involved in space development. I think these new connections are required for the development of the space industry.
--The traditional ‘old space’ approach to space development has been pursued by government-affiliated agencies and the traditional aerospace industry. New space’ is the space development pursued by the emerging private sector. We believe that technological advances have been one major factor in the private sector's ability to take on the space industry.
If there is a future where next-generation technologies such as AI and blockchain are crossed with space development, what do you expect to see?
Wada: I believe that space-related business is a field that is very compatible with next-generation technologies, as it is still in its infancy. For example, in the Web 3.0 industry, there is talk of building an ecosystem known as ‘distributed science’ (DeSci).
By using DeSci as a means of information sharing and funding for research and technology, it will be possible to accelerate space development in the private sector without being biased towards the resources of governments and large corporations.
We are also very excited about the possibility of developing use cases from a different perspective by combining with other industries, and combining with developing technologies such as VR and remote technologies to solve mutual technology issues and develop new demand.
Suzuki: What I would like to challenge in the future is to change the material of the motor case. I have been in charge of the engine development field. At present, we are also using aluminium motor cases for combustion tests.
However, as aluminium is heavy and less durable, we need a new motor case. Therefore, I have been developing a CFRP motor case together with the graduate students in my laboratory. The graduate students will not be able to guide me forever, so I would like to take over and continue the development.
Wada: For me personally, I would like to support space projects ‘from the ground up’. First of all, I would like to make it more familiar to as many people as possible, and also to develop it as a business, regardless of industry, by taking various approaches.
We will also continue our crowdfunding activities this year, as we did last year, and will post information on Twitter and other social networking services. We would be very grateful for your support, even if it is a small amount!
Yusuke Suzuki
3rd year, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kanagawa University, Director of the Kanagawa University Space Rocket Club.
Soichiro Wada
Senior at the Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics, Kanagawa University, and co-chair of the Kanagawa University web3 research group.
Kanagawa University
Kanagawa University is a university with two campuses (11 faculties) in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, working towards the realisation of a world-class research and education environment, including the reorganisation of the science and engineering faculties in April 2023. The Kanagawa University Space Rocket Club is a club that aims to ‘develop nano-satellite rockets that can launch nano-satellites safely and inexpensively’, and works jointly with the university's Space Structure Laboratory (Takano Laboratory). The club has developed most of the processes from rocket production to launch on its own, and in 2021 will set a record for the highest altitude reached by a hybrid rocket in Japan (10.1 km).
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