• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.67-74
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• 2009

In general, the lunar landing stage can be divided into two distinct phases: de-orbit and descent, and the descent phase usually comprises two sub-phases: braking and approach. And many optimization problems of minimal energy are usually focused on descent phases. In these approaches, the energy of de-orbit burning is not considered. Therefore, a possible low perilune altitude can be chosen to save fuel for the descent phase. Perilune altitude is typically specified between 10 and 15km because of the mountainous lunar terrain and possible guidance errors. However, it requires more de-orbit burning energy for the lower perilune altitude. Therefore, in this paper, the perilune altitude of the intermediate orbit is also considered with optimal thrust programming for minimal energy. Furthermore, the perilune altitude and optimal thrust programming can be expressed by a function of the radius of a parking orbit by using continuation method and co-state estimator.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• 제28권3호
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• pp.203-216
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• 2011

To prepare for a future Korean lunar orbiter mission, semi-optimal lunar capture orbits using finite thrust are designed and analyzed. Finite burn delta-V losses during lunar capture sequence are also analyzed by comparing those with values derived with impulsive thrusts in previous research. To design a hypothetical lunar capture sequence, two different intermediate capture orbits having orbital periods of about 12 hours and 3.5 hours are assumed, and final mission operation orbit around the Moon is assumed to be 100 km altitude with 90 degree of inclination. For the performance of the on-board thruster, three different performances (150 N with $I_{sp}$ of 200 seconds, 300 N with $I_{sp}$ of 250 seconds, 450 N with $I_{sp}$ of 300 seconds) are assumed, to provide a broad range of estimates of delta-V losses. As expected, it is found that the finite burn-arc sweeps almost symmetric orbital portions with respect to the perilune vector to minimize the delta-Vs required to achieve the final orbit. In addition, a difference of up to about 2% delta-V can occur during the lunar capture sequences with the use of assumed engine configurations, compared to scenarios with impulsive thrust. However, these delta-V losses will differ for every assumed lunar explorer's on-board thrust capability. Therefore, at the early stage of mission planning, careful consideration must be made while estimating mission budgets, particularly if the preliminary mission studies were assumed using impulsive thrust. The results provided in this paper are expected to lead to further progress in the design field of Korea's lunar orbiter mission, particularly the lunar capture sequences using finite thrust.

• 한국항공우주학회지
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• 제41권12호
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• pp.950-958
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• 2013

달 궤도선은 한국형발사체(KSLV-II)에 실려 지구 저궤도에 투입된 후, 지상 안테나를 이용한 달 궤도선의 추적데이터 획득 및 궤도결정 과정을 거쳐 적절한 시점에서 TLI(Trans Lunar Injection) 엔진을 점화시켜야 한다. 본 논문은 달 궤도선을 나로우주센터에서 발사하여 달 궤도에 진입하기까지 여러 단계로 나누고 발사 방위각 및 발사창 분석부터 TLI 및 LOI(Lunar Orbit Insertion) 분사 위치에 따른 속도증분(${\Delta}V$) 그리고 가시성 및 식 기간 분석까지 수행하여 직접 전이궤적의 전반적인 특성을 분석하였다. 본 논문은 향후 달 임무 설계 시 관성비행 기간 및 전이기간에 따라 속도증분이 어떻게 변하는지에 대한 전반적인 내용을 파악하는데 도움이 되고, 발사 시각 선정과 연료소모를 줄일 수 있는 파라미터 선정에 도움을 줄 것으로 판단된다.

• Journal of Positioning, Navigation, and Timing
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• 제12권4호
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• pp.335-342
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• 2023

Lunar Navigation Satellite System refers to a constellation of satellite providing PNT services on the moon. LNSS consists of main satellite and navigation satellites. Navigation satellites orbiting around the moon and a main satellite moves the area between the moon and the L2 point. The navigation satellite performs the same role as the Earth's GNSS satellite, and the main satellite communicates with the Earth for time synchronization. Due to the effect of the non-uniform shape of the moon, it is necessary to focus on the influence of the lunar gravitational field when designing the orbit simulation for navigation satellite. Since the main satellite is farther away from the moon than the navigation satellite, both the earth's gravity and the moon's gravity must be considered simultaneously when designing the orbit simulation for main satellite. Therefore, the main satellite orbit simulation must be designed through the three-body problem between the Earth, the moon, and the main satellite. In this paper, the orbit simulation tool for main satellite and navigation satellite required for LNSS was designed. The orbit simulation considers the environment characteristics of the moon. As a result of comparing long-term data (180 days) with the commercial program GMAT, it was confirmed that there was an error of about 1 m.

• 항공우주기술
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• 제13권1호
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• pp.96-107
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• 2014

한국항공우주연구원(이하, 항우연)은 2017년에 시험용 달 궤도선을 2020년에 달 궤도선 및 착륙선 발사를 계획하고 있다. 달 궤도선이 달 궤도 진입(LOI) 기동을 수행할 경우 온 보드에 탑재된 유한 분사 방식의 추력기를 이용하기 때문에 임무계획 단계에서 이러한 내용을 고려하여 LOI 기동 전략을 수립해야 한다. 유한 분사 모델을 이용한 LOI 기동 전략 및 요구되는 속도증분(${\Delta}V$)은 분사시점의 위성 자세, 추진체의 종류, 추력기의 추력 레벨 및 분사 시점에 따라서 달라진다. 본 논문은 해외 우주국 달 궤도선의 LOI 기동 사례를 기술하고, 이를 기반으로 한국형 달 궤도선의 LOI 기동 전략을 구체화 하였다. 또한 이와 관련된 시뮬레이션을 수행함으로써 한국형 달 궤도선에 적합한 추력 레벨 및 분사 시점 등을 도출하였다.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• 제27권3호
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• pp.195-204
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• 2010

The optimal Earth-Moon transfer trajectory considering spacecraft's visibility from the Daejeon ground station visibility at both the trans lunar injection (TLI) and lunar orbit insertion (LOI) maneuvers is designed. Both the TLI and LOI maneuvers are assumed to be impulsive thrust. As the successful execution of the TLI and LOI maneuvers are crucial factors among the various lunar mission parameters, it is necessary to design an optimal lunar transfer trajectory which guarantees the visibility from a specified ground station while executing these maneuvers. The optimal Earth-Moon transfer trajectory is simulated by modifying the Korean Lunar Mission Design Software using Impulsive high Thrust Engine (KLMDS-ITE) which is developed in previous studies. Four different mission scenarios are established and simulated to analyze the effects of the spacecraft's visibility considerations at the TLI and LOI maneuvers. As a result, it is found that the optimal Earth-Moon transfer trajectory, guaranteeing the spacecraft's visibility from Daejeon ground station at both the TLI and LOI maneuvers, can be designed with slight changes in total amount of delta-Vs. About 1% difference is observed with the optimal trajectory when none of the visibility condition is guaranteed, and about 0.04% with the visibility condition is only guaranteed at the time of TLI maneuver. The spacecraft's mass which can delivered to the Moon, when both visibility conditions are secured is shown to be about 534 kg with assumptions of KSLV-2's on-orbit mass about 2.6 tons. To minimize total mission delta-Vs, it is strongly recommended that visibility conditions at both the TLI and LOI maneuvers should be simultaneously implemented to the trajectory optimization algorithm.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• 제40권4호
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• pp.199-215
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• 2023

The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), the first South Korea lunar exploration probe, successfully arrived at the Moon on December, 2022 (UTC), following a 4.5-month ballistic lunar transfer (BLT) trajectory. Since the launch (4 August, 2022), the KPLO magnetometer (KMAG) has carried out various observations during the trans-lunar cruise phase and a 100 km altitude lunar polar orbit. KMAG consists of three fluxgate magnetometers capable of measuring magnetic fields within a ± 1,000 nT range with a resolution of 0.2 nT. The sampling rate is 10 Hz. During the originally planned lifetime of one year, KMAG has been operating successfully while performing observations of lunar crustal magnetic fields, magnetic fields induced in the lunar interior, and various solar wind events. The calibration and offset processes were performed during the TLC phase. In addition, reliabilities of the KMAG lunar magnetic field observations have been verified by comparing them with the surface vector mapping (SVM) data. If the KPLO's mission orbit during the extended mission phase is close enough to the lunar surface, KMAG will contribute to updating the lunar surface magnetic field map and will provide insights into the lunar interior structure and lunar space environment.

• 천문학회지
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• 제45권2호
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• pp.49-57
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• 2012

In this study, I calculate the past and future dynamical states of the Earth-Moon system by using modified Lambeck's formulae. I find that the ocean tidal effect must have been smaller in the past compared to its present amount. Even though the Moon is already in the spin-orbit synchronous rotational state, my calculation suggest that it will not be in geostationary rotational state in the next billion years or so. This is due to the associated Earth's obliquity increase and slow retardation of Earth's spin and lunar orbital angular velocities. I also attempt to calculate the precessional period of the Earth in the future. To avoid uncertainties in the time scale, the future state is described by using the Earth-Moon distance ratio as independent parameter. Effects due to solar tidal dissipation are included in all calculations.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• 제36권3호
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• pp.213-223
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• 2019

This paper analyzes delta-Vs to maintain an extremely low altitude on the Moon and investigates the possibilities of performing a CubeSat mission. To formulate the station-keeping (SK) problem at an extremely low altitude, current work has utilized real-flight performance proven software, the Systems Tool Kit Astrogator by Analytical Graphics Inc. With a high-fidelity force model, properties of SK maneuver delta-Vs to maintain an extremely low altitude are successfully derived with respect to different sets of reference orbits; of different altitudes as well as deadband limits. The effect of the degree and order selection of lunar gravitational harmonics on the overall SK maneuver strategy is also analyzed. Based on the derived SK maneuver delta-V costs, the possibilities of performing a CubeSat mission are analyzed with the expected mission lifetime by applying the current flight-proven miniaturized propulsion system performances. Moreover, the lunar surface coverage as well as the orbital characteristics of a candidate reference orbit are discussed. As a result, it is concluded that an approximately 15-kg class CubeSat could maintain an orbit (30-50 km reference altitude having ${\pm}10km$ deadband limits) around the Moon for 1-6 months and provide almost full coverage of the lunar surface.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• 제37권1호
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• pp.1-9
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• 2020

Frozen orbit is an attractive option for orbital design owing to its characteristics (its argument of pericenter and eccentricity are kept constant on an average). Solar sails are attractive solutions for massive and expensive missions. However, the solar radiation pressure effect represents an additional force on the solar sail that may greatly affect its orbital behavior in the long run. Thus, this force must be included as a perturbation force in the dynamical model for more accuracy. This study shows the calculations of initial conditions for a lunar solar sail frozen orbit. The disturbing function of the problem was developed to include the lunar gravitational field that is characterized by uneven mass distribution, third body perturbation, and the effect of solar radiation. An averaging technique was used to reduce the dynamical problem to a long period system. Lagrange planetary equations were utilized to formulate the rate of change of the argument of pericenter and eccentricity. Using the reduced system, frozen orbits for the Moon sail orbiter were constructed. The resulting frozen orbits are shown by two 3Dsurface (semi-major, eccentricity, inclination) figures. To simplify the analysis, we showed inclination-eccentricity contours for different values of semi-major axis, argument of pericenter, and values of sail lightness number.