• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.303-312
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• 2010

This paper introduces the upper stage attitude control system of KSLV-I, which is the first space launch vehicle in Korea. The KSLV-I upper stage attitude control system consists of two electro-hydraulic actuators and a reaction control system using cold nitrogen gas. A proportional, derivative, and integral controller is designed for the electro-hydraulic thrust vectoring system, and Schmidt trigger ON/OFF controllers are designed for the reaction control system. Each attitude controller is designed to have enough stability margins. The stability and performance of KSLV-I upper stage attitude control system is verified via hardware in the loop tests. Hardware in the loop tests are accomplished for perturbed flight conditions as well as nominal flight condition. The test results show that the attitude control loop of KSLV-I upper stage is very stable and the attitude controllers perform well for all flight conditions. Attitude controllers designed in this paper have been successfully applied to the first flight of KSLV-I on August 25, 2009. The flight test results show that all attitude controllers of the KSLV-I upper stage performed well and satisfied the accuracy specifications even during abnormal flight conditions.

• Aerospace Engineering and Technology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.44-54
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• 2014

This paper suggests two kinds of reaction control system command generation methods for upper stage attitude control of launch vehicles. The reaction control system is assumed to consist of two sets of three nozzles. One operation technology is based on mixed attitude error functions, and the other is based on command mixing functions. Both are compared via simulations. The simulation results show that the latter is comparatively preferable in terms of interference among control axes, independency of controller design and analysis among axes, and prediction of flight performance of each control axis.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.32 no.9
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• pp.72-79
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• 2004

A method for thruster fault diagnosis for launch vehicle upper stage was developed. In order to protect the launch vehicle against the occurrence of faults, it is necessary to detect and identify the fault, as well as to reconfigure the controller of the vehicle. Considering the upper stage launch vehicle using reaction control system, an analytical method was adopted in order to detect the fault occurred in thruster. The fault detection scheme can be applied to the system regardless of the form of thruster fault occurred - leakage or lock-out. Results from processor-in-the-loop simulation are provided to demonstrate the validity of this fault detection and isolation scheme for the upper stage launch vehicle.

• Aerospace Engineering and Technology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.98-106
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• 2011

This paper is summarized for designing launch vehicle autopilot structure with attitude angle command from guidance algorithm and for evaluating performance of autopilot using launch vehicle six-degree of freedom simulation program. The suggested autopilot has heritage from KSR-III/KSLV-I upper stage autopilot designing experience, and it has two design point. The one is, it must have same performance with KSR-III/KSLV-I upper stage autopilot, the other is, it must be simple autopilot structure and use low number of variable to apply on-board system. It is evaluated the performance using launch vehicle six-degree of freedom simulation program in case of roll maneuvering and no roll control flight condition.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.31 no.9
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• pp.55-63
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• 2003

An attitude control system using reaction thrusters for the upper stage of a launch vehicle is considered. The thruster configuration (position and direction) determines control system response, fuel consumption, effective torque and system fault tolerance. We propose a procedure for finding the optimal thruster configuration with desired control effectiveness over the range of selected torque commands. An optimization technique called Particle Swarm Optimization is used for the numerical experiments. The validity of the solution is checked through computer simulations.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.378-382
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• 2008

A 50 N monopropellant thruster being developed for attitude control in a variety of aerospace application systems is described in this paper. Ninety percent hydrogen peroxide was selected as a propellant, since it is much less hazardous than hydrazine. A scaled down thruster with aluminum oxide loaded with the platinum in the reaction chamber was tested to determine propellant decomposition onto a catalyst. A scaled up 50 N thruster, with a catalyst bed of 3 cm in diameter and 4 cm in length, was evaluated by decomposition efficiency based on temperature, ${\eta}_T$, efficiency of characteristic velocity, ${\eta}_{C^*}$, and measurement of thrust. The performance of a 50 N thruster was 40.5 Newton in thrust, about 100 % in ${\eta}_T$, and 98 % in ${\eta}_{C^*}$, and 125 sec in specific impulse at sea level.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea SC
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.19-27
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• 2010

KSLV(Korea Space Launch Vehicle)-I is designed as a launch vehicle to enter a 100 kg-class satellite to the LEO(Low-Earth Orbit). Attitude angles of the upper-stage, including roll, pitch and yaw are controlled by cold gas thruster system using nitrogen gas. The thruster for the KSLV-I is the main pneumatic valve in the RCS(Reaction Control System). In this paper, the design, function tests, and environment tests of the thruster for KSLV-I are described. The developed thrusters are experimentally evaluated and successfully passed the required qualification and acceptance tests.

• Aerospace Engineering and Technology
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.122-126
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• 2009

KSLV(Korea Space Launch Vehicle)-I is designed as a launch vehicle to enter a 100 kg-class satellite to the LEO(Low-Earth Orbit). Attitude angles of the upper-stage, including roll, pitch and yaw are controlled by cold gas thruster system using nitrogen gas. To verify the flow rate of the gas charging system and to prepare a nitrogen gas charging scenario, the development of a gas charging simulator for RCS(Reaction Control System) is required. This paper describes the orifice design, development, and test of the gas charging simulator for RCS of KSLV-I.