Noriyasu Inaba

About

Noriyasu Inaba is a pioneering researcher in space robotics, with a career defined by groundbreaking contributions to autonomous satellite capture, on-orbit servicing, and space manipulator systems. His work has fundamentally advanced the field of robotic interaction in the challenging environment of microgravity, addressing one of the most technically demanding problems in space engineering: capturing freely floating, non-cooperative satellites using robotic arms. Inaba's most influential contribution — his 2004 study on dynamics, control, and impedance matching for robotic capture of non-cooperative satellites (149 citations) — established critical theoretical frameworks, including the concept of virtual mass, for modeling contact dynamics between floating rigid bodies in space. Equally landmark is his involvement in Japan's ETS-VII mission, which achieved the world's first autonomous satellite capture experiment on orbit, documented across several highly cited publications from 1998 to 2002. This mission demonstrated teleoperation, visual servoing, and onboard autonomous control under real spaceflight conditions, earning widespread recognition across the aerospace community. With over 400 cumulative citations, Inaba's research has shaped modern approaches to satellite rescue, debris removal, and on-orbit maintenance — technologies increasingly vital as humanity's presence in space continues to expand.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Dynamics, control and impedance matching for robotic capture of a non-cooperative satellite

   149 citations · 2004
2. 2
   Autonomous satellite capture by a space robot: world first on-orbit experiment on a Japanese robot satellite ETS-VII

   88 citations · 2002
3. 3
   Visual Servoing of Space Robot for Autonomous Satellite Capture

   37 citations · 2003
4. 4
   Rescuing a Stranded Satellite in Space-Experimental Robotic Capture of Non-Cooperative Satellites-

   30 citations · 2006
5. 5
   Autonomous Satellite Capture by a Space Robot.

   29 citations · 2000
6. 6
   Onboard local compensation on ETS-W space robot teleoperation

   21 citations · 1999
7. 7
   Space robot technology experiments on NASDA's ETS-VII satellite

   19 citations · 1998
8. 8
   Results of NASDA’s ETS-VII Robot Mission and Its Applications

   13 citations · 2000
9. 9
   Space robot technology experiments on NASDA's ETS-VII satellite

   10 citations · 1999
10. 10
    Evaluation of Space Robot Behavior Using Berthing Dynamics Simulator.

    6 citations · 1995

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links