• Composites Research
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.130-135
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• 2015

This study investigates the property of graphene filled polymer nanocomposites in LEO(Low Earth orbit) environment conditions. In order to improve compatibility with polymer matrices and resistance of carbon material against AO(Atomic oxygen) attack, silanization of graphene oxide with organosilane was carried out. The corresponding moieties were characterized through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Graphene oxide filled nanocomposites were prepared using solution based processing methods. The sets of specimen series were tested in an accelerated LEO simulated space environment facility. Graphene oxide and silane treated graphene oxide reinforced nanocomposites were compared with neat epoxy. The comparison revealed that the silane treated graphene filled polymer composite shows inherent resistance against atomic oxygen attack while the lack of silane treatment resulted in a reduction in performance.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.410-418
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• 2018

This paper describes the design, analysis, and verification tests of the Dual-axis X-band antenna pointing mechanism(XAPM) that has been developed for the Earth observation mission at low Earth orbits. Based on the experience of development and operation of the similar system, we defined the main points and requirements of the system design and confirmed the characteristics of the system through the verification test of the launch and orbit environment test of the engineering qualification model. Through the characteristics and verification techniques of the system acquired during this process, improvement points of the later qualification model are derived.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.149-162
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• 1996

The results of space radiation experiments carried out on board the first two Korean technology demonstration microsatellites are presented in this paper. The first satellite, KITSAT-1, launched in August 1992, carries a radiation monitoring payload called cosmic ray experiment(CRE) for characterizing the low-earth orbit(LEO) radiation environment. The CRE consists of two sub-systems: the cosmic particle experiment (CPE) and the total dose experiment(TDE). In addition, single event upset(SEU)rates of the program memory and the RAM disk are also monitored. The second satellite, KITSAT-2, launched in September 1993, carries a newly developed 32-bit on-board computer(OBC), KASCOM(KAIST satellite computer in addition to OBC186. SEUs ocurred in the KASCOM, as well as in the program memory and RAM disk memory, have been monitored since the beginning of the satellite operation. These two satellites, which are very similar in structures but different in orbits, provide a unique opportunity to study the effects of the radiation environment characterized by the orbit.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.94-102
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• 2023

A nylon wire holding and release mechanism (HRM) has been widely used for deployable applications of CubeSat owing to its simplicity and low cost. In general, structural safety of solar panel with an HRM has been designed by performing structural analysis under a launch environment. However, previous studies have not performed thermal analysis for HRM in an on-orbit environment. In this study, Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) thermal analysis was performed to evaluate thermal stability of the mechanism in the orbital thermal environment of the pogo pin-based HRM applied to CubeSat. In addition, the effectiveness of the thermal design and performance of the pogo pin-based HRM were verified through a thermal vacuum test.

• Journal of Satellite, Information and Communications
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.51-57
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• 2016

Many kinds of telemetry should be monitored to check the state of spacecraft and it leads the time consumption. However, it is very important to define the status of satellite in short time because the contact number and time of low earth orbit satellite is limited. Also, on-board fault management should be prepared for non-contact operation because of the sever space environment. In this paper, on-board and ground autonomous operation method for the safety enhancement is described. Immediate fault detection and response is possible in ground by explicit anomaly detection through satellite event and error information. Also, satellite operation assistant system is proposed for ground autonomy that collect event sequence in accordance with related telemetry and recommend or execute an appropriate action for abnormal state. Critical parameter monitoring method with checking rate, mode and threshold is developed for on-board autonomous fault management. If the value exceeds the limit, pre-defined command sequence is executed.

• Aerospace Engineering and Technology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.57-63
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• 2013

The mission of a lot of satellites on geostationary orbit is the communication and/or the broadcasting. These satellites need a big power, so these have a large solar array. Recently, the new satellite for Earth environment monitoring is developing on geostationary orbit. The payload of Earth monitoring satellite requires better thermal condition on detector. Therefore this satellite uses a boom for the attitude stability instead of rejecting one-side solar array as a heat source. The other hand, it uses some momentum wheels being a more momentum capacity to control the large disturbance by solar pressure due to the asymmetric solar array configuration. In this paper, the analysis on the wheel allocation and the wheel off-loading for COMS is summarized and the results are verified by telemetry of COMS. COMS has no boom and a perfectly asymmetric solar array configuration, and it is operating well on geostationary orbit.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.42 no.9
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• pp.802-808
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• 2014

MEMS based solid propellant thruster researched for the purpose of an academic research will be verified at space environment through CubeSat program. For this, the temperature of the MEMS thruster should be within allowable operating temperature range by proper thermal control to prevent the ignition failure caused by ignition time delay and to guarantee the structural safety of the MEMS thruster in the low temperature. In this study, we proposed an effective thermal control strategy, that is to use micro-igniter as a heater and temperature sensor for active thermal control instead of using additional heater. The effectiveness of the strategy has been verified through on-orbit thermal analysis of CubeSats with MEMS thruster.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.1-5
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• 2017

This objective of this study is an effort to predict atomic oxygen (ATOX) erosion as ot affects coating material(s) of LEO satellite's solar array by implementing the 'real ram direction accumulation method'. We observed the difference of ATOX Fluence between the previous 'Maximum worst case estimation method' and 'Real ram direction accumulation method' and we plan to implement these findings for the purpose of evaluating the level of compliance for design submitted by solar array suppliers. We used the SPENVIS(Space Environment Information System) served by ESA based on assumption orbit information, and applied the satellite orbit calculation software for calculating the ATOX Flux crushed solar array in real orbit surface.

• Aerospace Engineering and Technology
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.57-65
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• 2002

The Electrical Power System (EPS) shall supply required power to maintain spacecraft and payload during the mission. The EPS sizing are based on space environment, satellite mission and lifetime, and allocated budgets. The type of the primary and secondary power is determined according to satellite design-level and allocated subsystem budgets. The design of EPS has closely related to system and others' subsystems design. To supply the sufficient power to the satellite, the implementation of the larger power source and energy storage is impossible actually. And there will be some problems of the attitude control of the satellite, the handling power capability of the electronic boxes, and launch vehicle selection caused by EPS oversizing. Also, the thermal control is not easy in the space by extra power. And the maintenance of the satellite within the specific orbit from orbit-drag is a big design burden of the thruster. So the various technologies have been developed to optimize the EPS sizing and to operate the power system efficiently.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.502-509
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• 2023

This study presents a satellite constellation method that achieves optimal revisit performance by utilizing genetic algorithm techniques. The Walker method is a global coverage concept, and there are limitations to target-centered constellation considering the strategic environment of the Korean Peninsula. To overcome these limitations, targets are set in major areas of interest in North Korea, orbit elements with optimal revisit performance for each target are searched, and based on this, the number of satellites optimized for each target is derived using a genetic algorithm. The results of this study demonstrate the performance of the optimized constellation by applying phasing rules to achieve the desired revisit performance.