• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.318-325
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• 2015

Pico satellite has limited surface to install the solar cells due to its extremely limited size. Also, the sun incidence angle with respect to the solar panel continuously varies according to the attitude control strategy and its important parameter for the power generation. In this study, a concentrating photovoltaic system for pico satellite application has been proposed that can enhance the power generation efficiency in case of the unfavorable condition of the sun incidence angle with respect to the solar panel of the satellite using the fresnel lens. To prove the possibility of maximizing the power generation efficiency of the proposed concentrating power system, we have performed the power measurement test using a solar simulator and commercial fresnel lens. And on-orbit analysis of the power generation efficiency using the STK which is a commercial S/W has also been performed based on the test results.

• International Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.31-37
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• 2016

STEP Cube Lab (Cube Laboratory for Space Technology Experimental Project) is a 1U standardized pico-class satellite. Its main mission objective is an on-orbit verification of five fundamental core space technologies. For assuring a successful missions of the STEP Cube Lab with five payloads, electrical power subsystem (EPS) shall sufficiently provide an electrical power to payloads and bus systems of the satellite during an entire mission life. In this study, a design process of EPS system was introduced including power budget analysis considering a mission orbit and various mission modes of the satellite. In conclusion, adequate EPS hardware in compliance with design requirements were selected. The effectiveness and mission capability of EPS architecture design were confirmed through an energy balance analysis (EBA).

• International Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.34-43
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• 2014

The STEP Cube Lab (Cube Laboratory for Space Technology Experimental Projects) is a 1U cube satellite developed by the Space Technology Synthesis Laboratory of Chosun University to be launched in 2015. Its mission objective is twofold: to determine which of the fundamental space technologies researched at domestic universities, will be potential candidates for use in future space missions and to verify the effectiveness of the technologies by investigating mission data obtained from on-orbit operation of the cube satellite. In this paper, a structural design concept based on the 1U standard to achieve the mission objective is introduced. The validity of the design has been demonstrated by quasi-static analysis and modal analysis. In addition, a non-explosive separation device triggered by burn wire heating, which is one of the main mission payloads is introduced.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2004.03a
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• pp.601-604
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• 2004

Precise position and attitude control of pico-satellite requires huge number of impulses of the order of 10$^{-6}$ Ns. MEMS solid rocket array is a promising propulsion system but the higher degree of miniaturization causes unreliable operation mainly due to quenching. In order to breakthrough this situation, a novel design of solid micro-rocket is proposed, which generates tiny impulses repetitively from a single rocket not from array. This unique micro-rocket is based on the utilization of quenching, which causes propellant reaction to sustain only in a small area. A test chip of a micro solid propellant tank and micro heater array is fabricated and ignition test is conducted. Obtained results show the feasibility of this concept and future direction of this quenching-based propulsion is discussed.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.193-199
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• 2013

This work investigates the orbital perturbations of the cubesats that lie on LEO due to Earth albedo. The motivation for this paper originated in the investigation of the orbital perturbations for closed- Earth pico-satellites due to the sunlight reflected by the Earth (the albedo). Having assumed that the Sun lies on the equator, the albedo irradiance is calculated using a numerical model in which irradiance depends on the geographical latitude, longitude and altitude of the satellite. However, in the present work the longitude dependency is disregarded. Albedo force and acceleration components are formulated using a detailed model in a geocentric equatorial system in which the Earth is an oblate spheroid. Lagrange planetary equations in its Gaussian form are used to analyze the orbital changes when $e{\neq}0$ and $i{\neq}0$. Based on the Earth's reflectivity data measured by NASA Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS project), the orbital perturbations are calculated for some cubesats. The outcome of the numerical test shows that the albedo force has a significant contribution on the orbital perturbations of the pico-satellite which can affect the satellite life time.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.42 no.9
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• pp.795-801
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• 2014

STEP Cube Lab. classified as a pico-satellite has been being developed by SSTL(Space Technology Synthesis Laboratory) in Chosun University. Its main mission objective is to perform the on-orbit verification of core space technologies, which will be the potential candidates for future space missions. In this paper, to guarantee successful mission operation of the cube satellite under extremely severe space thermal environment condition, the system level thermal design and analysis has been performed. The effectiveness of the design has been verified through on-orbit thermal analysis of cube satellite.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.42 no.7
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• pp.622-627
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• 2014

A pico-class satellite has limitation to generate power from the solar cells due to its limited accommodation area to install the solar cells. The variation of incidence angle between solar panels and sunlight induced by the revolution and rotation of the satellite is one of the key parameters to determine the power generation. In this study, we proposed a concentrating photovoltaic system for pico-class satellite applications to enhance power generation when the ${\beta}$ angle between the sunlight and the solar panel is zero by effectively concentrating solar energy on solar panels. The feasibility of the conceptual idea has been demonstrated by power measurement test using solar simulator and commercial multi-array lens system.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.43 no.9
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• pp.814-821
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• 2015

The STEP Cube Lab. classified as a pico-class satellite has been successfully developed as a flight model(FM) to be launched in 2015. Its mission objective is to perform the on-orbit verification of fundamental space core-technologies. In this study, a thermal design concept based on the passive method to achieve the mission objective is introduced. The effectiveness of the thermal design and performance of the satellite has been verified through the acceptance level thermal vacuum test. In addition, to improve the reliability of thermal mathematical model, correlation was performed using the results of thermal balance test. This paper describes a series of process for the thermal vacuum test on the STEP Cube Lab. FM.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.201-218
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to investigate climatological variations from the sea surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl-a), and phytoplankton size class (PSC), using NOAA AVHRR, SeaWiFS, and MODIS data in the South Sea of Korea (SSK) and East China Sea (ECS). 26-year monthly SST and 13-year monthly Chl-a and PSC data, separated by whole and nine-different areas, were used to understand seasonal and inter-annual variations. SST and Chl-a clearly showed seasonal variations: higher SST and Chl-a were observed during the summer and spring, and lower values occurred during the winter and summer. The annual and monthly SST over 26 years increased by $0.2{\sim}1.0^{\circ}C$. The annual and monthly Chl-a concentration over 13 years decreased by $0.2{\sim}1.1mg/m^3$. To determine more detailed spatial and temporal variations, we used the combined data with monthly SST, Chl-a, and PSC. Between 1998 and 2010, the inter-annual trend of Chl-a decreased, with decreasing micro- and nano-size plankton, and increasing pico-size plankton. In regional analysis, the west region of the study area was spatially and temporally correlated with the area dominated by decreasing micro-size plankton; while the east region was less sensitive to coastal and land effects, and was dominated by increasing pico-size plankton. This phenomenon is better related to one or more forcing factors: the increased stratification of ocean driven by changes occurring in spatial variations of the SST caused limited contributions of nutrients and changed marine ecosystems in the study area.

• Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.34-39
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• 2012

CubeSats classified as pico-class satellite require a ground station to track the satellite, transmit a command, and receive an on-orbit data such as SOH (State-of-Health) and mission data according to the operation plan. For this, ground station system has to be properly designed to perform a communication to with the satellite with enough up- and down-link budgets. In this study, a conceptual design of the ground station has been performed for the CubeSat named as STEP Cube Lab. (Cube Laboratory for Space Technology Experimental Project). The paper includes a ground station hardware interface design, link budget analysis and a ground station software realization. In addition, the operation plan of the ground station has been established considering the STEP Cube Lab. mission requirements.