• Journal of Space Technology and Applications
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.48-61
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• 2024

In this paper, we introduce the concept of the cube satellite Chungnam National University Laser Unity Bus (CLUB), which can provide an integrated infrastructure for various ground-space laser applications. With the advent of the new space era, the rapid expansion of space utilization has begun to reveal the limitations of conventional radio frequencies. As space missions diversify, lasers are garnering attention as a viable alternative. Between ground and space, lasers are applied in various fields including satellite laser ranging (SLR), laser weapons, and laser communication. However, laser used between the ground and space are significantly influenced by the Earth's atmosphere. Consequently, understanding the atmospheric effects on laser propagation is crucial. In particular, atmospheric turbulence, which refracts and distorts laser beams, intensifies closer to the Earth's surface, exerting a greater impact on the uplink than on the downlink. While downlink verification is facilitated by ground detection, verifying the uplink poses challenges due to the necessity of space-based detection. In response to these challenges, we propose the idea of cube satellite as a means to enhance understanding and verification of laser propagation in the uplink. Additionally, we present the results of conceptual design by analyzing requirements, focusing on mission design of the CLUB cube satellite, following the stages of systems engineering for systematic cube satellite development.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.38 no.11
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• pp.1136-1143
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• 2010

One-way laser ranging technology is applied for the precise orbit determination of LRO, which is the first trial for supporting the missions of lunar or planetary spacecraft. In this paper, LRO payload and ground system are discussed for LRO laser ranging, and some errors effecting on time of flight and tracking mount accuracy are analyzed. Additionally several technologies are also analyzed to make laser pulses shot from ground stations to arrive in the LRO earth window. Measurement data of LRO laser ranging verified that these technologies could be implemented for one-way laser ranging of lunar spacecraft.

• Journal of Space Technology and Applications
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.74-85
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• 2024

As the limitations of conventional radio communications between satellites and the ground become apparent, various experiments are being conducted around the world to overcome them with space laser communication. In this study, we address the development of our own optical communications terminal (OCT) and optical ground station (OGS) and the experiments of free-space optical communication (FSOC) using them. Using a 30 mm-diameter OCT and a 250 mm-diameter portable OGS telescope, as well as commercial 10 Gbps SFP+ modules and media converters, we successfully transmitted and received 4K high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) signals through 1,550 nm optical laser beam. The transmission and reception distances of the experiment were 3, 9, and 20 km, respectively, and the received signal strength at each distance was +6.1, -2.8, and -10.9 dBm, respectively. It was demonstrated that the 4K HDMI video lasted for over 10 minutes.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.92-99
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• 2008

KOMSAT-5 will attach an laser retroreflector array for precise orbit determination. Laser retroreflector array was developed by DFZ in Germany and have pyramid type composed of four corner cube prisms. In this paper, the performance analyses as effective area of retroreflector and photons measured by link budget and position of ground station were performed.

• Journal of Space Technology and Applications
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.169-183
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• 2024

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) developed the Geochang satellite laser ranging (SLR) system for the scientific research on the space geodesy as well as for the national space missions including precise orbit determination and space surveillance. The operation system was developed based on the server-client communication structure, which controls the SLR subsystems, provides manual and automatic observation modes based on the observation algorithm, generates the range data between satellites and SLR stations, and carry out the post-processing to remove noises. In this study, we analyzed the requirements of operation system, and presented the development environments, the software structure and the observation algorithm, for the server-client communications. We also obtained laser ranging data for the ground target and the space geodetic satellite, and then analyzed the ranging precision between the Geochang SLR station and the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) network stations, in order to verify the operation system.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.35 no.12
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• pp.1135-1142
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• 2007

STSAT-2 has an on-board satellite retroreflector array for precise orbit determination. Satellite retroreflector array reflects photon emitted from laser and uses to determine precisely the distance from ground station to satellite by the round-trip travel time of photon. The retroreflector array of protoflight model has been developed and verified through environmental tests. This paper describes the protoflight model of retroreflector array and reports environmental test results. The environmental tests of protoflight model retroreflector array were performed successfully without damage of corner cube prism occurred in engineering model development.

• Journal of Space Technology and Applications
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.87-104
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• 2024

CubeSats are being utilized in various fields such as Earth observation, space exploration, and verification of space science and technology due to their low cost, short development period, enhanced mission-oriented performance, and ability to perform various missions through constellation and formation flights. Recently, as the availability of CubeSats has increased and their application areas have expanded, the demand for high-speed transmission of large amounts of data obtained by CubeSats has increased unprecedentedly. Laser-based free space optical communication technology is capable of transmitting large amounts of data at high speeds compared to the existing radio communication methods, and provides various advantages such as use of unlicensed spectrum, low cost, low power, high security characteristics, and of use a small communication platform. For this reason, it is suitable as a high-performance communication technology to support CubeSat missions. In this paper, we will present the core components and characteristics of CubeSat-based space laser communication system, and recent research trends, as well as representative technology development results.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.391-399
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• 2020

KASI (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute) has been developing the multipurpose laser tracking system with three functions of satellite laser tracking, adaptive optics and space debris laser tracking for scientific research and national space missions. The space debris laser tracking system provides the distance to space debris without a laser retro-reflector array by using a high power pulse laser, which employs a spinning disk to change the optical path between the transmit and receive beams. The spinning disk causes the collision band which is unable to reflect the returned signal to a detector and then has an effect on the tracking coverage of space debris. This study proposed the mathematical model for tracking coverage by taking into account the various specifications of spinning disk such as disk size, spinning velocity and collision rate between the disk and hole. In addition, the spinning disk specifications were analyzed in terms of tracking coverage and collision band based on the mathematical model to investigate tracking requirements of the Geochang laser tracking system.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.54-60
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• 2013

This paper presents a ground altitude determination algorithm using a laser altimeter and GPS for automatic take-off and landing of UAV. The characteristics of the laser altimeter was analyzed in ground tests and a low-pass filter was designed to reduce the effect of signal interruption due to reflectivity problem. The paper shows that a single sensor cannot measure ground altitude appropriately in terms of reliability and accuracy. To complement shortcomings of the laser altimeter, the linear Kalman filter was designed using DGPS vertical speed. Designed filter was validated and tuned through the steps of simulation, ground test and flight test. It was confirmed that the accuracy for automatic landing is achievable.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.18-27
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• 2023

In this paper, the structural-thermal-optical performance analysis of the mirror was performed by setting the laser heat source as the boundary condition of the thermal analysis. For the laser heat source model, the Beer-Lambert model considering semi-transparent optical material based on Gaussian beam was selected as the boundary condition, and the mechanical part was not considered, to analyze the performance of only the mirror. As a result of the thermal analysis, thermal stress and thermal deformation data due to temperature change on the surface of the mirror were obtained. The displacement data of the surface due to thermal deformation was fitted to a Zernike polynomial to calculate the optical performance, through which the performance of the mirror when a high-energy laser was incident on the mirror could be predicted.