Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Image-based autonomous navigation of Hayabusa2 using artificial landmarks: The design and brief in-flight results of the first landing on asteroid Ryugu

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Astrodynamics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

A Correction to this article was published on 11 February 2022

This article has been updated

Abstract

Hayabusa2 is an asteroid sample return mission carried out by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The spacecraft was launched in 2014 and arrived at the target asteroid Ryugu on June 27, 2018. During the 1.5-year proximity phase, several critical operations (including two landing/sampling operations) were successfully performed. They were based on autonomous image-based descent and landing techniques. This paper describes an imagebased autonomous navigation scheme of the Hayabusa2 mission using artificial landmarks named target markers (TMs). Its basic algorithm, and the in-flight results of the first touchdown and its rehearsal, are shown.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Change history

Abbreviations

JAXA:

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

TM:

target marker

TMT:

target marker tracking

HP:

home position

DBT:

differential bright object tracking

NBT:

normal bright object tracking

ONC-E:

optical navigation camera electronics

ONC-W1:

optical navigation camera wide-1

AOCP:

attitude and orbit control processor

TD:

touchdown

SCI:

small carry-on impactor

DoF:

degree of freedom

S/C:

spacecraft

PPTD:

pin-point touchdown

References

  1. Yoshikawa, M., Minamino, H., Tsuda, Y., Abe, M., Nakazawa, S., Hayabusa2 Project Team. Hayabusa2—new challenge of next asteroid sample return mission. In: Proceedings of Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 2012, 2012: 6188.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Tsuda, Y., Yoshikawa, M., Abe, M., Minamino, H., Nakazawa, S. System design of the Hayabusa 2—Asteroid sample return mission to 1999 JU3. Acta Astronautica, 2013, 91: 356–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Saiki, T., Takei, Y., Takahashi, T., Shibata, N., Kikuchi, S., Sawada, H., Hirose, C., Terui, F., Ogawa, N., Mimasu, Y., et al. Overview of Hayabusa2 asteroid proximity operation planning and preliminary results. In: Proceedings of the 32nd International Symposium on Space Technology and Science, 2019.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Watanabe, S., Hirabayashi, M., Hirata, N., Hirata, N., Noguchi, R., Shimaki, Y., Ikeda, H., Tatsumi, E., Yoshikawa, M., Kikuchi, S., et al. Hayabusa2 arrives at the carbonaceous asteroid 162173 Ryugu—A spinning top-shaped rubble pile. Science, 2019, 364(6437): 268–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Yoshikawa, K., Ogawa, N., Mimasu, Y., Ono, G., Terui, F., Takahashi, T., Saiki, T., Tsuda, Y., Yasuda, S., Matsushima, K., Masuda, T. Hayabusa2 middle altitude observation operation result and hovering strategy. In: Proceedings of the 32nd International Symposium on Space Technology and Science, 2019.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Mimasu, Y., Yoshikawa, K., Ono, G., Ogawa, N., Terui, F., Ikeda, H., Yasuda, S., Matsushima, K., Masuda, T., Takahashi, T., et al. Hayabusa2 free fall descent to low altitude for gravity estimation of Ryugu. In: Proceedings of the 32nd International Symposium on Space Technology and Science, 2019.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Yoshikawa, K., Wal, S. V., Ogawa, N., Mimasu, Y., Ono, G., Terui, F., Takei, Y., Saiki, T.Y.T., Tsuda, Y., Yasuda, S., et al. GNC operational design and result of MINERVA II rovers deployment in Hayabusa2 mission. In: Proceedings of the 32nd International Symposium on Space Technology and Science, 2019.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Mimasu, Y., Yoshikawa, K., Ono, G., Ogawa, N., Terui, F., Yasuda, S., Matsushima, K., Masuda, T., Laurence, L., Romain, G., et al. GNC scheme and flight results of Hayabusa2 operation for MASCOT Release. In: the Proceedings of the 32nd International Symposium on Space Technology and Science, 2019.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Terui, F., Ogawa, N., Kikuchi, S., Ono, G., Mimasu, Y., Yoshikawa, K., Yasuda, S., Matsushima, K., Masuda, T., Saiki, T., Tsuda, Y. GNC strategy for Hayabusa2 touch down operations. In: Proceedings of the 32nd International Symposium on Space Technology and Science, 2019.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Ono, G., Terui, F., Ogawa, N., Mimasu, Y., Yoshikawa, K., Yasuda, S., Matsushima, K., Takei, Y., Saiki, T., Tsuda, Y. GNC design and evaluation of Hayabusa2 descent operations. In: Proceedings of the 32nd International Symposium on Space Technology and Science, 2019.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Saiki, T., Mimasu, Y., Takei, Y., Yamada, M., Sawada, H., Ogawa, K., Ogawa, N., Takeuchi, H., Miura, A., Shimaki, Y., et al. Motion reconstruction of small carry-on impactor aboard Hayabusa2. Astrodynamics, 2020, Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42064-020-0077-6.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Kubota, T., Otsuki, M., Hashimoto, T., Bando, N., Yano, H., Uo, M., Shirakawa, K., Kawaguchi, J. Touchdown dynamics for sampling in Hayabusa mission. In: Proceedings of AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference and Exhibit, 2006: AIAA 2006-6539.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Uo, M., Shirakawa, K., Hashimoto, T., Kubota, T., Kawaguchi, J. Attitude control challenges and solutions for hayabusa spacecraft. In: Proceedings of AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference and Exhibit, 2006: AIAA 2006-6534.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Scheeres, D. Close proximity and landing operations at small bodies. In: Proceedings of Technical Papers of 1996 AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Conference, 1996: 99–109.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Kawaguchi, J., Hashimoto, T., Kubota, T., Sawai, S., Fujii, G. Autonomous optical guidance and navigation strategy around a small body. Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 1997, 20(5): 1010–1017.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Miso, T., Hashimoto, T., Ninomiya, K. Optical guidance for autonomous landing of spacecraft. IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, 1999, 35(2): 459–473.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Misu, T., Hashimoto, T., Ninomiya, K. Terrain shape recognition for celestial landing/rover missions from shade information. Acta Astronautica, 1999, 45(4–9): 357–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Kubota, T., Sawai, S., Misu, T., Hashimoto, T., Kawaguchi, J., Fujiwara, A. Autonomous landing system for MUSES-C sample return mission. In: Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Automation in Space, 1999: 615–620.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Johnson, A. E., Cheng, Y., Matthies, L. H. Machine vision for autonomous small body navigation. In: Proceedings of the 2000 IEEE Aerospace Conference, 2000: 661–671.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Broschart, S., Scheeres, D. Spacecraft descent and translation in the small-body fixed frame. In: Proceedings of AIAA/AAS Astrodynamics Specialist Conference and Exhibit, 2004: AIAA 2004-4865.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Li, S., Cui, P. Y. Landmark tracking based autonomous navigation schemes for landing spacecraft on asteroids. Acta Astronautica, 2008, 62(6–7): 391–403.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Yanagi, N., Terui, F. Visual servo motion control of a spacecraft around an asteroid using feature points. In: Proceedings of the 17th World Congress of the International Federation of Automatic Control, 2008: 13012–13015.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Terui, F., Ogawa, N., Mori, O., Kubota, T. Guidance, navigation & control for Hayabusa follow-on mission in proximity to the target object. In: Proceedings of the 27th International Symposium on Space Technology and Science, 2009: 2009-k-09.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Mario, C., Norman, C., Miller, C., Olds, R., Palmer, E., Weirich, J., Lorenz, D., Lauretta, D. Image correlation performance prediction for autonomous navigation of OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample collection. In: Proceedings of the 43rd Annual AAS Guidance, Navigation & Control Conference, 2020: AAS 20-087.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Miller, C., Olds, R., Norman, C., Gonzales, S., Mario, C., Leonard, J., Lauretta, D. On orbit evaluation of natural feature tracking for OSIRIS-REx sample collection. In: Proceedings of the 43rd Annual AAS Guidance, Navigation & Control Conference, 2020: AAS 20-154.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Sawai, S., Kawaguchi, J., Scheeres, D., Yoshizawa, N., Ogasawara, M. Development of a target marker for landing on asteroids. Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, 2001, 38(4): 601–608.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Kubota, T., Sawai, S., Hashimoto, T., Kawaguchi, J. Collision dynamics of target maker for visual navigation in small body exploration. In: Proceedings of the 2006 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2006: 657–662.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  28. Ono, G., Terui, F., Ogawa, N., Mimasu, Y., Yoshikawa, K., Takei, Y., Saiki, T., Tsuda, Y. Design and flight results of GNC systems in Hayabusa2 descent operations. Astrodynamics, 2020, Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42064-020-0072-y.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Hihara, H., Sano, J., Masuda, T., Ootake, H., Okada, T., Ogawa, N., Tsuda, Y. Performance evaluation of the optical navigation electronics of HAYABUSA2. In: Proceedings of the 2019 SPIE Future Sensing Technologies, 2019: volume 11197.

  30. Ogawa, N., Terui, F., Kawaguchi, J. Precise landing of space probe on asteroid using multiple markers. In: Proceedings of the 18th IFAC Symposium on Automatic Control in Aerospace, 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Ogawa, N., Terui, F., Kawaguchi, J. Precise guidance and landing strategy of space probe by using multiple markers in asteroid exploration mission. Advances in the Astronautical Sciences, 2011, 142: 3817–3832.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Sagamihara, 252-5210, Japan

    Naoko Ogawa, Fuyuto Terui, Yuya Mimasu, Kent Yoshikawa, Go Ono, Yasuhiro Yokota, Yuto Takei, Takanao Saiki & Yuichi Tsuda

  2. NEC Corporation, Fuchu, 183-8501, Japan

    Seiji Yasuda, Kota Matsushima & Tetsuya Masuda

  3. NEC Space Technologies, Ltd., Fuchu, 183-8551, Japan

    Hiroki Hihara & Junpei Sano

  4. Systems Engineering Consultants Co., Ltd., Tokyo, 158-0097, Japan

    Takashi Matsuhisa & Satoshi Danno

  5. Planetary Exploration Research Center, Chiba Institute of Technology, Narashino, 275-0016, Japan

    Manabu Yamada

Authors
  1. Naoko Ogawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Fuyuto Terui
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yuya Mimasu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Kent Yoshikawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Go Ono
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Seiji Yasuda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Kota Matsushima
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Tetsuya Masuda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Hiroki Hihara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Junpei Sano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Takashi Matsuhisa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Satoshi Danno
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Manabu Yamada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Yasuhiro Yokota
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. Yuto Takei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  16. Takanao Saiki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  17. Yuichi Tsuda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Naoko Ogawa.

Additional information

Naoko Ogawa received her B.E., M.E. and Ph.D. degrees in mathematical engineering and information physics in 2000, 2002 and 2005, respectively, from the University of Tokyo, Japan. From 2004 to 2008, she has been a research fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. Since 2008 she has been a research engineer at Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Her current research interests include astrodynamics, mission design, robotics, spacecraft systems and operation.

Fuyuto Terui received his Ph.D. degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Osaka Prefecture in 1989. He has been a staff member of the Space Technology Research Center of the National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) of Japan since 1989. He was a visiting scholar of the University of Cambridge, Engineering Department, Control Group between 1994 and 1995. After the reorganization of space agencies in Japan, he has been a staff member of JAXA since 2003, and is now a function manager of the Hayabusa2 project as well as a representative of the Attitude and Orbit Control System of the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. His main research field is robust control and image-based guidance, and navigation and control of spacecraft such as debris removal space robots and asteroid exploration probes.

Yuya Mimasu is a researcher at JAXA. He graduated with a Ph.D. degree in aerospace engineering from Kyushu University. After graduation, he joined JAXA, and has been working on guidance, navigation and control subsystems of the Hayabusa2 mission, which is JAXA’s sample return mission from the asteroid Ryugu. His research interests are astrodynamics and mission analysis around small bodies.

Kent Yoshikawa received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2013 and 2015, respectively. From 2015, he has been working as an engineer in the Research and Development Directorate, JAXA. His current research interests include astrodynamics, GNC, planetary robotics, and planetary exploration.

Go Ono is a researcher at JAXA. He graduated with a master’s degree of engineering from the University of Bath in 2011, and with a Ph.D. degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Tokyo in 2014. He joined JAXA in 2015, and has been working on guidance, navigation and control systems of JAXA’s deep space missions such as Hayabusa2 and MMX. His current research interests are astrodynamics and deep space exploration.

Seiji Yasuda received his bachelor’s, master’s, doctor’s degrees in science from Tsukuba University in 2004, 2006, and 2009, respectvely. In 2009, he started working as an engineer in NEC Aerospace Systems, Ltd., and joined NEC Corporation in 2016.

Kota Matsushima received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from Hokkaido University in 2007 and 2009, respectively. From 2009, he has been working as an engineer in space system development of NEC Corporation.

Tetsuya Masuda received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from Kyoto University in 2009 and 2011, respectively. In 2011, he started working as an engineer in space system development of NEC Corporation, and has been Hayabusa2’s system manager since 2018.

Hiroki Hiharareceived his B.E. and M.E. degrees in electronics engineering in 1984 and 1986, respectively, from Osaka University and Ph.D. degree in artificial intelligence in 2017 from the University of Tokyo, Japan. He has been engaged in the development of onboard networks and image processing systems for artificial satellites in NEC Corporation since 1986 and also in NEC Space Technologies, Ltd., since 2000. His current research and development include radiation hardened devices with dynamically reconfigurable architectures.

Junpei Sano received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from Chiba University in 2003 and 2005, respectively. In 2005, he started working as an engineer in NEC Engineering, Ltd., and joined NEC Space Technologies, Ltd., in 2016.

Takashi Matsuhisa received his M.E. degree in electronics engineering in 1998 from the Nagaoka University of Technology, Japan. He joined the Systems Engineering Consultants Co., Ltd., in 1998. Over 20 years, he has been involved in the development of some science and commercial satellites through the spacecraft onboard software developments.

Satoshi Danno received his master’s degree in informatics in 2006 from Kyoto University, Japan. He joined the Systems Engineering Consultants Co., Ltd., in 2006. After some mobile application developments and social infrastructure system developments, he has been involved in the development of spacecraft onboard system since 2011.

Manabu Yamada received his Ph.D. degree in Earth and planetary sciences from Hokkaido University, Japan, in 2006. He is a staff scientist at the Planetary Exploration Research Center (PERC), Chiba Institute of Technology. He is now involved in the Hayabusa2 project. He was a developer of the optical navigation camera (ONC) system. His research interests include planetary atmospheres, remote sensing, and deep space exploration.

Yasuhiro Yokota received his doctor of science degree from the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, in 2002. He is currently a researcher at ISAS and JAXA. He is now involved in the Hayabusa2 ONC science team. His research interests include planetary image analysis and photometry.

Yuto Takei received his Ph.D. degree in engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, in 2015. He is a researcher at the Research and Development Directorate, JAXA. He is involved in the Hayabusa2 project as a system engineer. His research interests include astrodynamics, spacecraft system, space robotics, and deep space exploration.

Takanao Saiki received his Ph.D. degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the University of Tokyo, Japan, in 2005. He is an assistant professor at the Institute of ISAS, JAXA. He is now involved in the Hayabusa2 project. He was a chief developer of the impact system and he is currently a project engineer. His research interests include astrodynamics, spacecraft system, and deep space exploration.

Yuichi Tsuda received his Ph.D. degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the University of Tokyo in 2003, and joined JAXA in 2003 as a research associate. He was a visiting scholar at the Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan and Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder in 2008–2009. He was a deputy lead of the IKAROS project, the world’s first interplanetary solar sail mission. He is currently a professor of ISAS/JAXA and is also the project manager of the Hayabusa2, an asteroid sample-return mission. His research interests are astrodynamics, spacecraft system and deep space exploration.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ogawa, N., Terui, F., Mimasu, Y. et al. Image-based autonomous navigation of Hayabusa2 using artificial landmarks: The design and brief in-flight results of the first landing on asteroid Ryugu. Astrodyn 4, 89–103 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42064-020-0070-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42064-020-0070-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation