• Journal of Satellite, Information and Communications
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.12-19
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• 2009

In the modern UAV systems, the role of radar payload has been increasing with its unique performance of day-and-night operation and see-through capability over hidden obstacles. Contrary to the satellite reconnaissance, UAV is expected to provide high resolution target detection and recognition capability while frequent flight missions would deliver enhanced SAR image and local information over the target area. STK(Satellite Tool Kit) is a professional space-analysis software widely used in all phases of a space system's life cycle. The simulation of STK is efficient and accurate relatively. In this paper, the author attempt to model the UAV operation and measure the expected SAR image quality. STK(Satellite Tool Kit) is employed to analyze UAV operation and produce SAR raw data. A SAR simulator is developed to produce high resolution SAR image for various ground targets.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.42 no.9
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• pp.779-788
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• 2014

The satellite should generate electric power efficiently to perform the mission successfully within limited power. For this reason, the electrical power system of LEO satellites usually regulates the power which is generated from the solar cells using MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) method. This paper proposes advanced MPPT algorithm based on the fuzzy logic applied to small CubeSat satellite. The simulation has been performed to confirm the validity of the proposed method by interlocking between MATLAB/Simulink and STK (Systems Tool Kit). The EBA(Energy Balance Analysis) has also been performed at two different pointing modes of KAUSAT-5 for solar irradiation according to the satellite orbit and attitude, and load capacity varied with operation modes by Simulink and STK. The performance of fuzzy logic-based MPPT algorithm was verified through the EBA. The validity of the proposed MPPT algorithm based on the fuzzy logic was also confirmed by comparing with P&O (Perturbation & Observation) algorithm that is general in the MPPT.

• The Journal of Korean Institute of Electromagnetic Engineering and Science
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.299-309
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• 2013

A comprehensive SAR(Synthetic Aperture Radar) simulation is considered to be a complicated task since a full knowledge of the signal propagation characteristics, antenna pattern, system internal errors and interference noises should be taken into account. In high resolution target application modes, the time varying nature of target RCS(Radar Cross Section) strongly affects the generated SAR images. In this paper, in-depth SAR simulations are performed and analyzed incorporating the STK tools and MATLAB software. STK provides realistic orbit parameters while its radar module helps to extract accurate radiometric parameters of ground targets. SAR raw data corresponding to a given target is generated and processed using MATLAB simulator. The performance is measured by PSLR(Peak Sidelobe Ratio) and ISLR(Integrated Sidelobe Ratio) for a point target, which can be used as reference parameters for accurate radiometric calibration. Finally, high resolution target simulations are performed by adopting time varying target RCS characteristics.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.181-190
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• 2014

The optimized flight path planning which is appropriate for UAV operation with high performance and multiplex sensors is required for efficient ISR missions. Furthermore, a mission visualization tool is necessary for the assessment of MoE(Measures of Effectiveness) prior to mission operation and the urgent tactical decision in peace time and wartime. A mission visualization and analysis tool was developed by combining STK and MATLAB, whose tool was used for UAV ISR mission analyses in this study. In this mission analysis tool, obstacle avoidance and FoM(Figure of Merit) analysis algorithms were applied to enable the optimized mission planning.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.334-343
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• 2017

The optimum design of an SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite constellation is developed herein using a genetic algorithm. The performance of Earth observations using a satellite constellation can be improved by minimizing the maximum revisit time. Classical orbit design using analytic methods has limitations when addressing orbit dynamics due to various disturbances. To overcome this issue, an optimization technique based on a genetic algorithm is used. STK (Systems Tool Kit) is utilized to propagate the satellite orbit when considering external disturbances, and the maximum revisit time on the earth observation area is calculated. By minimizing the performance index using a genetic algorithm, the optimum orbit of the satellite constellation is designed. Numerical results are provided to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.89-100
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• 2016

Given the unpredictability of the space environment, satellite communications are manually performed by exchanging telecommands and telemetry. Ground support for orbiting satellites is given only during limited periods of ground antenna visibility, which can result in conflicts when multiple satellites are present. This problem can be regarded as a scheduling problem of allocating antenna support (task) to limited visibility (resource). To mitigate unforeseen errors and costs associated with manual scheduling and mission planning, we propose a novel method based on a genetic algorithm to solve the ground support problem of multiple satellites and antennae with visibility conflicts. Numerous scheduling parameters, including user priority, emergency, profit, contact interval, support time, remaining resource, are considered to provide maximum benefit to users and real applications. The modeling and formulae are developed in accordance with the characteristics of satellite communication. To validate the proposed algorithm, 20 satellites and 3 ground antennae in the Korean peninsula are assumed and modeled using the satellite tool kit (STK). The proposed algorithm is applied to two operation modes: (i) telemetry, tracking, and command and (ii) payload. The results of the present study show near-optimal scheduling in both operation modes and demonstrate the applicability of the proposed algorithm to actual mission control systems.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.1-9
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• 2016

NSS (Navigation satellite system) provides the information for determining the position, velocity and time of users in real time using satellite-networking, and is classified into GNSS (Global NSS) and RNSS (Regional NSS). Although GNSS services for global users, the exactitude of provided information is dissatisfied with the degree required in modern systems such as unmanned system, autonomous navigation system for aircraft, ship and others, air-traffic control system. Especially, due to concern about the monopoly status of the countries operating it, some other countries have already considered establishing RNSS. The RNSS services for users within a specific area, however, it not only gives more precise information than those from GNSS, but also can be operated independently from the NSS of other countries. Thus, for Korean RNSS, this paper suggests the methodology to design the satellite constellation considering the regional features of Korean Peninsula. It intends to determine the orbits and the arrangement of navigation satellites for minimizing PDOP (Position dilution of precision). PGA (Parallel Genetic Algorithm) geared to solve this nonlinear optimization problem is proposed and STK (System tool kit) software is used for simulating their space flight. The PGA is composed of several GAs and iterates the process that they search the solution for a problem during the pre-specified generations, and then mutually exchange the superior solutions investigated by each GA. Numerical experiments were performed with increasing from four to seven satellites for Korean RNSS. When the RNSS was established by seven satellites, the time ratio that PDOP was measured to less than 5 (i.e. better than 'Good' level on the meaning of the PDOP value) was found to 94.3% and PDOP was always kept at 10 or less (i.e. better than 'Moderate' level).

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.139-151
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• 2017

This paper presents an overview of deep space orbit determination software (DSODS), as well as validation and verification results on its event prediction capabilities. DSODS was developed in the MATLAB object-oriented programming environment to support the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO) mission. DSODS has three major capabilities: celestial event prediction for spacecraft, orbit determination with deep space network (DSN) tracking data, and DSN tracking data simulation. To achieve its functionality requirements, DSODS consists of four modules: orbit propagation (OP), event prediction (EP), data simulation (DS), and orbit determination (OD) modules. This paper explains the highest-level data flows between modules in event prediction, orbit determination, and tracking data simulation processes. Furthermore, to address the event prediction capability of DSODS, this paper introduces OP and EP modules. The role of the OP module is to handle time and coordinate system conversions, to propagate spacecraft trajectories, and to handle the ephemerides of spacecraft and celestial bodies. Currently, the OP module utilizes the General Mission Analysis Tool (GMAT) as a third-party software component for high-fidelity deep space propagation, as well as time and coordinate system conversions. The role of the EP module is to predict celestial events, including eclipses, and ground station visibilities, and this paper presents the functionality requirements of the EP module. The validation and verification results show that, for most cases, event prediction errors were less than 10 millisec when compared with flight proven mission analysis tools such as GMAT and Systems Tool Kit (STK). Thus, we conclude that DSODS is capable of predicting events for the KPLO in real mission applications.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.39-49
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• 2018

In the satellite operation phase, a ground station should continuously monitor the status of the satellite and sends out a tasking order, and a satellite should transmit data acquired in the space to the Earth. Therefore, the communication between the satellites and the ground stations is essential. However, a satellite and a ground station located in a specific region on Earth can be connected for a limited time because the satellite is continuously orbiting the Earth, and the communication between satellites and ground stations is only possible on a one-to-one basis. That is, one satellite can not communicate with plural ground stations, and one ground station can communicate with plural satellites concurrently. For such reasons, the efficiency of the communication schedule directly affects the utilization of the satellites. Thus, in this research, considering aforementioned unique situations of spacial communication, the mixed integer programming (MIP) model for the optimal communication planning between multiple satellites and multiple ground stations (MS-MG) is proposed. Furthermore, some numerical experiments are performed to verify and validate the mathematical model. The practical example for them is constructed based on the information of existing satellites and ground stations. The communicable time slots between them were obtained by STK (System Tool Kit), which is a well known professional software for space flight simulation. In the MIP model for the MS-MG problems, the objective function is also considered the minimization of communication cost, and ILOG CPLEX software searches the optimal schedule. Furthermore, it is confirmed that this study can be applied to the location selection of the ground stations.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.127-135
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• 2016

Inactive space objects are usually rotating and tumbling as a result of internal or external forces. KOREASAT 1 has been inactive since 2005, and its drift trajectory has been monitored with the optical wide-field patrol network (OWL-Net). However, a quantitative analysis of KOREASAT 1 in regard to the attitude evolution has never been performed. Here, two optical tracking systems were used to acquire raw measurements to analyze the rotation period of two inactive satellites. During the optical campaign in 2013, KOREASAT 1 was observed by a 0.6 m class optical telescope operated by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI). The rotation period of KOREASAT 1 was analyzed with the light curves from the photometry results. The rotation periods of the low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite ASTRO-H after break-up were detected by OWL-Net on April 7, 2016. We analyzed the magnitude variation of each satellite by differential photometry and made comparisons with the star catalog. The illumination effect caused by the phase angle between the Sun and the target satellite was corrected with the system tool kit (STK) and two line element (TLE) technique. Finally, we determined the rotation period of two inactive satellites on LEO and geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) with light curves from the photometry. The main rotation periods were determined to be 5.2 sec for ASTRO-H and 74 sec for KOREASAT 1.