Optimal trajectories for maneuvering reentry vehicles

Abstract

Many demanding aerospace missions today require maneuverable re-entry vehicles that can fly trajectories that have stringent path and terminal constraints, including those that cannot be written as drag or energy constraints. This work presents a method based on trajectory optimization techniques to assess the capabilities of the re-entry vehicle by computing the landing and re-entry footprints while meeting these conditions. The models used also account for important non-linear effects seen during hypersonic flight. Several different vehicles are studied, and the effects of parameters such the maximum G-loading, stagnation point heat rate, and the maximum L/D are analyzed.