Flight Dynamics Operation for KOMPSAT-5 LEOP

The KOMPSAT-5 is the first synthetic aperture radar satellite in South Korea, equipped with a single frequency GPS receiver and a dual frequency GPS receiver. The KOMPSAT-5 will be launched in the middle of 2012 by DNEPR launcher, and its mission orbit is 550km sun-synchronous dawn-dusk orbit with a 28 day ground repeat cycle. The main mission of KOMPSAT-5 supports geographic information system, ocean and land management, and disaster and environmental monitoring. The SAR payload has three operation modes including high-resolution, standard, and wide-swath, and its image resolutions in dedicated swaths are 1 m, 3 m, and 20 m, respectively. This paper was initially intended to describe the whole operational results from KOMPSAT-5 LEOP. However, the preparations for LEOP activities are mainly dealt with due to the unexpected launch delay. In this paper, pre-launch activities are summarized including the system functional review and the operational validation test for flight dynamics system of KOMPSAT-5. And, the sequence of events with nominal operational timeline for flight dynamics activities is defined for initial orbit acquisition and initial orbit determination. In addition, the results of operational validation test, which is intended to check and validate the readiness of flight dynamics system and operational procedure, are summarized.