TIME: 14:00, Oct. 26, 2026
VENUE: Room A4, NIMTE
Abstract:
IKAROS is the world's first interplanetary solar power sail that has successfully achieved all mission goals in space. The base material of the solar sail membrane is polyimide with 7.5 um thickness. Two different types of polyimides are used after one-sided aluminum vaporization with approximately 80 nm thickness; one was commercially available APICAL-AH derived from Pyromellitic dianhydride and 4,4'-Oxydianiline (4,4'-ODA) from Kaneka Corporation, the other was a newly developed thermoplastic polyimide film at JAXA, namely ISAS-TPI derived from 3,4'-oxydiphthalicanhydride (a-ODPA) and 4,4'-ODA, which enabled to meet production process of IKAROs membrane and operation requirements includes space environmentalstability. This presentation covers the development of IKAROS membrane and its deployment in space.
Speaker Biography:
Dr. Masahiko MIYAUCHI is Research Manager and Head of Composite Research Team, Material Solutions New Research Engine, Kaneka Corporation. He got his Ph.D. in Science from The University of Osaka in 2005. He has been working for Kaneka Corporation since April, 2005. He has also been working as a collaborative researcher in Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) since July, 2007. He also worked as a visiting scientist in Langley Research Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (USA) from April, 2012 to February, 2014. His expertise includes high temperature thermosetting polyimide resins, prepregs, and composites for aerospace applications, and polyimide film processing and evaluation of space environmental stability.
