• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.365-368
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• 2009

A new concept of a small thruster for altitude control of a micro/nano class satellite is developed, which utilizes the pulsed laser energy. As the laser-based thruster does not require burning of any fuel, it gives promise of small satellite design criteria, namely light weight and cost effectiveness. In this paper, we develop gel-type material for generating strong plasma plume for enhancing thrust for propulsion. Moreover, we quantify the level of thrust via the momentum coupling coefficient measured by the pendulum system. We discover that the driving force is significantly improved via the gel-typed propellant for laser ablation.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.150-155
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• 2013

We present a kevlar rope based Non-Explosive Actuator(NEA) device which has simple structure and is activated by burning Ni-Cr wire. Through performance test, we find it can be operated under various pre-load by simply changing turn number of Ni-Cr wire. It shows release time of 680ms and shock level of 110G under pre-load of 6.0kN. Launching environment and space environment tests are planned to verify performance of the NEA based on European Satellite Agency test manual. Conclusively, we expect the proposed NEA can be applicable to release solar panel and fairing separation.