I am a Ph.D. candidate at Stanford Aero/Astro pursuing a Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics in the Navigation and Autonomous Vehicles (NAV) Lab. My adviser is Professor Gao.
My primary research focuses on developing positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) algorithms for lunar satellites and rovers to enable a “Lunar GPS” system that will support future lunar exploration. I currently lead the Lunar PNT subgroup in the NAV Lab and mentor several students.
Before joining Stanford, I earned my B.E. and M.E. degrees from the Aero/Astro Department at The University of Tokyo. There, I contributed to the thermal design and on-board software development for EQUULEUS, a 6-U lunar CubeSat that successfully completed a lunar flyby in 2022. I also researched satellite configurations and autonomous operation strategies for a Lunar Navigation Satellite System (LNSS), and pioneered research works that has recently led to a Lunar Navigation System development contract between ArkEdge Space and JAXA.
I have had the honor of collaborating with renowned groups such as the Space Systems Optimization Group (SSOG) at Georgia Tech, the Space Rendezvous Lab (SLAB) at Stanford University, and Section 332H at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. At SSOG, I developed deep reinforcement learning algorithms for landing site selection. At SLAB, I worked on multi-agent, vision-based angles-only navigation in lunar orbit, as part of the potential extension of the Starling mission by NASA Ames. At JPL, I contributed to constellation design and orbit determination simulations of next-generation Mars navigation and communication relay satellite network to support future missions on Mars.
Please refer to my CV (last updated at March 2025) for the latest information.
Education
Ph.D. Candidate in Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University
Research Topic: Lunar Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT)
2021.9 ~
M.E. in Aeronautics and Astronautics, The University of Tokyo
Thesis: System Design and Autonomous Orbit Determination Strategy for Lunar Navigation Satellite System
2021
B.E. in Aeronautics and Astronautics, The University of Tokyo
Thesis: Navigation Satellite Constellation and Monitoring Station Arrangement for Lunar Global Navigation Satellite System (LGNSS)
2019
Research Experience
NAV Lab
Research: Lunar PNT
Supervisor: Grace Gao
2022.5 ~ Present
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (332 H)
Research: Constellation design and orbit determination of communication + PNT constellation to support future human missions on Mars
Supervisor: Kar-Ming Cheung
2024.7 ~ 2024.9
Space Rendezvous Lab
Research: Angles-only navigation
Supervisor: Simone D’Amico
2021.9 ~ 2022.4
Intelligent Space Systems Laboratory
Research: Lunar Navigation Satellite System, SmallSat development
Supervisor: Ryu Funase, Shinichi Nakasuka
2018.4 ~ 2021.9
Space Systems Optimization Group
Research: Landing site selection algorithms during planetary descent
Supervisor: Koki Ho
2020.1 ~ 2020.2
Please see here for further information.
Teaching Experience
Graduate TA of graduate course AA272: Global Positioning System
2024.9 ~ 2024.12
Graduate TA of undergraduate course: Astrodynamics
2019.9 ~ 2020.3
Mentorship
- Kaila Coimbra Stanford University 2024.9-
- Guillem Casadesus Vila Stanford University 2023.1-
- Marta Cortinovis Stanford University 2023.1-2024.8
- Guillem Rueda Oller Stanford University 2022.9-2023.3
Academic Appointments
Assistant Researcher
Duties included: EQUULEUS project
2019.4 ~ 2021.8
Fellowships & Awards
ION GNSS Best Presentation of the Session
2024: Autonomous Constellation Fault Monitoring with Inter-satellite Links: A Rigidity-Based Approach (1st-author)
2023: Satellite ephemeris approximation methods to support lunar positioning, navigation, and timing services (2nd-author)
2024, 2023
Student Registration Grant for ION ITM 2022
For the paper 'Autonomous Distributed Angles-Only Navigation and Timekeeping in Lunar Orbit'
2022.1
Stanford University Aero/Astro Department Fellowship
Sucess ratio ~11%, 1-year tuition and stipend
2021.9 ~ 2022.8
Nakajima Foundation Study Abroad Fellowship
Sucess ratio ~7%, 2-year tuition and 5-year stipend
2021.9 ~ 2023.8
2019.9 ~ 2021.8
Overall Winner at ARLISS 2017
2017.9
Publications
Please see here
Contact
kiiyama{at}stanford.edu
Recent News
- Nov.20 2024 Presented for the ION Webinar “Webinar: Satellite Ephemeris Parameterization Methods to Support Lunar Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Services”.
- The recording is available here
- Sep.20 2024 Presented a paper at the ION GNSS+ 2024 Conference. Please see the publications page for details
- The paper “Autonomous Constellation Fault Monitoring with Inter-satellite Links: A Rigidity-Based Approach” received the Best Presentation Award of the session
- Mar 11.2024 Updated my publication page. Now you can see the Abstracts and BibTex.
- Mar.6 2024 Presented our paper “Contact Plan Optimization and Distributed State Estimation for Delay Tolerant Satellite Networks” in the IEEE Aeroconf! [Paper] [Slides]
- Feb.16 2024 Our paper “Precise Positioning and Timekeeping in a Lunar Orbit via Terrestrial GPS Time-Differenced Carrier-Phase Measurements” in now available in NAVIGATION!