Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences (한국항공우주학회지)

The Korean Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences (한국항공우주학회)
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Visibility Analysis of Iridium Communication for SNIPE Nano-Satellite

SNIPE 초소형위성용 Iridium 통신 모듈의 가시성 분석

  • Received : 2021.10.18
  • Accepted : 2022.01.17
  • Published : 2022.02.01
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Abstract

Compared to the continuous increase of domestic nano-satellite development cases, the initial communication success rate is relatively low. In a situation where communication cases of LEO satellites using commercial satellite communication networks are increasing recently. In this situation, the SNIPE project developed by the KASI(Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute), KARI(Korea Aerospace Research Institute), and Yonsei University apply an Iridium module for communication test to the SNIPE nano-satellites. Therefore, in this paper, the visibility analysis of the iridium module on the SNIPE satellite was analyzed under considering the orbital and communication environment of the iridium satellite constellation and the attitude control mode. In the case of LEO satellites, the communication possibility was limited due to the relatively small iridium communication coverage for high altitude and the high doppler shift considered in the iridium communication network. For this reason, in this paper, it could be simulated that there was a more performance difference according to the difference in relative RAAN(Right Ascension of Ascending Node) angle with the Iridium constellation. Finally, by checking the visibility of communication module under the tumbling situation that occurred during the initial deployment of the nano-satellite, the possibility of using the iridium communication technology was analyzed.

국내 초소형위성의 경우 개발 사례가 지속적으로 늘어나는 것에 비해 초기의 통신 성공률이 상대적으로 낮다. 이러한 상황에서 최근 상용 위성통신망을 활용한 저궤도 위성의 통신사례가 늘고 있으며, 이에 한국천문연구원, 한국항공우주연구원 및 연세대학교에서 개발하고 있는 SNIPE 프로젝트에서는 이리디움(Iridium) 모듈을 이용한 초소형위성의 통신링크를 시험하고자 한다. 이에 본 논문에서는 이리디움 위성군에 대한 궤도 및 통신환경과 SNIPE 위성의 이리디움 모듈 및 자세지향 모드를 고려한 이리디움 모듈의 가시성을 분석하였다. 저궤도 위성의 경우 높은 고도에 따른 상대적으로 적은 이리디움 통신 커버리지 및 이리디움 통신망에서 고려하고 있는 도플러 변화량에 비해 높은 변화량에 따른 통신 가능성이 제한되었다. 이러한 이유로 인해 이리디움 위성군과의 상대적인 승교점 적경각의 차이에 따라 좀 더 많은 성능 차이를 보이는 것을 확인해 볼 수 있었다. 마지막으로 초소형위성의 초기 사출시 발생되는 회전운동 상태에 대한 통신 모듈의 가시성 분석을 통해 해당 기술에 대한 활용 가능성을 분석해 보았다.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

본 논문은 '근지구 우주환경 관측용 초소형위성 본체 개발' 연구과제 및 2021학년도 부산대학교 신임교수연구 정착금 지원으로 이루어졌으며, 이에 한국항공우주연구원과 부산대학교의 지원에 감사드립니다.

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