• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.173-205
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• 2008

Space debris have frequently caused damage to space objects like satellites in orbits and sometimes have fallen on the earth. Such increase in space debris will lead to the high possibility of threatening space activities of mankind. However, it is not so easy for the damage caused both by identified and by unidentified space debris to be recovered since in the regime of the current international law, there is no legislation of prescribing the damage done by space debris. For overcoming the limitation it seems desirable that either the Liability Convention should partly be amended or new international law regime should be established. For instance, 'space debris' should be included in the new definition of 'space object' and the range of launching should also be defined clearly by making the concept of 'launching' somewhat more specified. Moreover, the subject of international liability for damage caused by space debris should be divided into two classes: the subject before and after registration. While in case of before-registration launch states should be held liable for any damage jointly or individually, in case of after-registration 'the state of registry' or 'owner' of the space debris should be. In the event of damage being caused elsewhere than on the surface of the earth to a space object of other State, 'fault-based liability' is currently applied. But it needs to be changed into 'absolutely liability'. In this paper, 'Liability Pool', 'Insurance', 'Market-Share Liability' are presented as aid devices of the damages resulting from unidentified space debris. They should be defined through the amendment of the Liability Convention or another international treaty. Some day there comes a time when our country shall possess many of the astronomical price of satellites. It means that we can't be free from the damage by the increasing number of space debris. Provided that our satellites are damaged by such space debris, it will do the satellites damage and cause impaired functioning or troubles in operation. As a result, if we are not paid for the damage by space debris, we will be confronted with tremendous economic loss because it is necessarily connected with the excess burden of taxation. Thus, an international agreement regarding the measures of the compensation for space debris damage must be made very soon.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.49-56
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• 2019

The Long-Term Sustainability (LTS) guidelines have attracted the most attention in the recent formation of international norms of behavior regarding outer space activities. The discussion began at the U.N. COPUOS in 2010. In June 2019, the 21 guidelines were finally adopted. The guidelines include international cooperation to promote and support the observation of the situation of orbiting objects, including space debris, for the purpose of preserving the space environment indefinitely, sharing data and forecasts on space weather, and announcing each country's space policy in accordance with international law. Some guidelines have failed to reach a consensus as the mitigation of space debris is often difficult to separate from space weapons tests. As plans for small satellites and Rendezvous and Proximity Operations have been projected for the future, it is expected that each countries' position on preserving the space environment will become more acute.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.43 no.9
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• pp.830-837
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• 2015

Space debris has been a major issue recently for the space-active nations because its growing population is expected to increase the collision risk with operational satellites. Radar and electro-optical system has been used for space debris surveillance, which may cause unnecessary anti-collision manoeuvers due to their low tracking accuracy. So an additional tracking system is required to improve the predicted orbit accuracy and then to jude the anti-collision maneouvers more efficiently. The laser tracking system has been considered as an alternative to decrease these unnecessary manoeuvers. Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute has been developing a space object laser tracking system which is capable of laser tracking for satellites with retro-reflectors and for space debris using high power laser, and satellite imaging using adaptive optics. In this study, the tracking capability is analyzed for space debris using high power laser based on link budget, false alarm probability and signal detection probability.

• The Science & Technology
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• s.497
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• pp.31-33
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• 2010

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.259-294
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• 2013

After its experiment involving the exploding of a satellite in space in 2007, China proudly aired news on TV and ran articles in newspapers. However, the event was internationally criticized and drew widespread attention. Many countries denounced the explosion by pointing out that it could be part of the nation's plan to expand its military power to space or that it could pose a danger to the peaceful use of space. However, there is no talk of whether the experiment that produced a huge amount of space debris could have violated an international law, namely the Outer Space Treaty. Although space garbage has been said to be a serious problem, the amount is still on the increase. If we continue to launch new space launch vehicles into orbit at this rate, we will not be able to use it anytime soon like we do today. As the commercial use of space is likely to increase, the situation will certainly get worse. The international community is fully aware of the seriousness of the problem and working together to reduce the amount of space garbage. However, despite the fact that the United States and Soviet Union's ASAT(Anti-Satellite) programs have been implemented for a long time, there have been no complaints about them in terms of military expansion or breach of the Outer Space Treaty. Also, the recent Chinese test is largely viewed to be in accordance with international law. A lot of research has been undertaken with regard to the problem of space garbage. Now people's awareness of dangers being posed has been fully raised. Under the circumstances, the dismissing of China's satellite smashing, leaving a big mess in its wake, as nothing more than an experiment, is a red flag to, if not many, at least some people. By means of this thesis, I would like to review whether the Chinese test has violated an international space law. This thesis presents an overview of the issues surrounding the event and examines the possibility of violating the Outer Space Treaty, formally the Treaty on Principle Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies. After the China test, the UN Scientific and Technical Subcommittee first adopted space debris mitigation guidelines, I'll introduce the content of the guidelines and discuss the characteristics of the guidelines and what can be done to address the issue.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.36-41
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• 2017

As the space debris in the satellite orbit increases, the risk of collision between the currently operating satellites and the space debris is continuously increasing. Therefore, in this study, we designed one-degree-of-freedom capture device using simple deployment mechanism. The capture device consists of four link groups connected with net. To increase the reliability, each link group is connected to one driving part so that the total degree of freedom is 1. In addition, the links were stowed on each side of the satellites so that they would not affect the janitor satellite mission. Finally, to confirm the possibility of deployment in the space environment, we carried out deployment experiments in water similar to the microgravity environment, and confirmed the deployment of capture device and the possibility of capturing target satellite.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.164.1-164.1
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• 2009

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.18
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• pp.185-209
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• 2003

이 논문은 21세기 우주개발로 인하여 제기되는 국제우주법의 장래 과제를 분석한 것이며 따라서 1967년 우주조약을 비롯한 기존의 5개 국제우주조약들과 '연성법'(soft law)으로서의 우주법인 5개의 UN결의들은 간략하게 소개하고 lex ferenda로서 제기되는 문제들을 중심으로 연구하였다. 21세기 국제우주법의 lex ferenda로 제기되는 문제는 다음과 같다. 첫째. 우주의 정의 및 경계획정문제와 지구정지궤도(GSO)의 성격과 활용의 문제가' 외기권 우주의 평화적 이용에 관한 위원회'(COPUOS)의 법률소위원회를 중심으로 어떻게 진행되고 있는가 하는 문제를 검토하였고, 둘째. 대기권 상공과 외기권 우주를 비행할 수 있는 새로운 우주운송수단으로 등장하고 있는 우주항공기(Aerospace Vehicle)가 기존의 항공법과 우주법의 관계에서 어떠한 법의 적용을 받아야 하는가의 문제를 검토하였다. 셋째. 그리고 통신위성을 이용하면서 발생하는 저작권법(copy right law) 및 지적재산권(intellectual property) 등의 문제 그리고 우주보험을 포함한 우주의 상업적 이용에서 발생하는 법규범의 문제를 검토하였고, 넷째. 우주활동으로 인해 발생하는 우주잔해(space debris)와 우주환경문제를 다루었다. 마지막으로 그리고 기타 국제우주법관련문제 특히 우주활동을 원활하게 수행하기 위한 '우주물체'(space objects)와 그와 관련된 용어들의 정확한 개념 정의를 명확하게 할 필요성과 우주의 상업적 이용과 우주의 오로지 평화적인 목적을 위하여 중요한 역할을 할 국제민간항공기구(ICAO)나 국제해사기구(IMO)와 같은 장래의 국제민간우주기구(International Civil Space Organization) 등의 설립문제를 검토하였다.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.191-200
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• 2000

Recently, NORAD reported that only 6% of the total space objects cataloged in the table as above 10cm objects were being operated for the space missions and the others were just non-operated objects, such as rocket body, useless satellites which were finished their missions, and other fragments of space debris. A major contributor to the orbital debris background has been object breakup. Breakups generally are caused by explosions and collisions. Several international research groups and big countries' governments are trying to develop advanced technology for de-orbiting and to design new future satellites' modeling. The future need to be considered continuously that kind of technology and designing to preserve space and global environmental safety and to maintain welfare of mankind forever.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.216.1-216.1
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• 2012

한국천문연구원에서는 우주물체 전자광학 감시체계(OWL: Optical Wide-field Patrol) 구축사업을 통해 북반구 3개소와 남반구 2개소에 0.5m급 관측시설을 설치, 운영할 계획이다. 이 시설은 국적위성과 우주잔해물을 감시하여 궤도정보를 획득하는 것을 목적으로 한다. OWL 관측소는 관측, 자료처리 등 일련의 과정을 자동으로 수행하는 무인감시 시스템이기 때문에 각종 기기들에 대한 전원 제어와 네트워크 연결, 작업 상태 확인 등 관측과 관련된 제반사항 역시 모두 자동으로 이루어진다. 따라서 이들 기기들에 대한 전원 제어 및 네트워크 연결은, 관측소 운용 측면에서 뿐만 아니라 향후 유지 관리를 고려할 때 단순화시켜야할 필요가 있다. 우리는 이 발표를 통해 완전개폐형 돔과 OWL 관측소에 설치될 서브시스템 및 주요 기기들에 대한 전원분배, 제어, 네트워크 연결, 그리고 사이트 보드를 통한 이종 인터페이스 통합에 관한 내용을 소개한다.