Hitoshi Kuninaka

Prior to becoming the Director General of ISAS/JAXA, Dr. Hitoshi Kuninaka was the Hayabusa2 Project Manager. He completed a Ph.D. program in aerodynamics at the University of Tokyo’s School of Engineering in 1988. That same year he took up a new post at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, which is now part of JAXA. In 2005, Dr. Kuninaka became a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Tokyo’s School of Engineering. Dr. Kuninaka’s areas of expertise are electric propulsion and plasma engineering. He has been involved in the development of the ion engines for the Hayabusa asteroid explorers.