Ignition Point Reachability for Aerodynamically-Controlled Reusable Launch Vehicles

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Chung, Benjamin, Echigo, Kazuya, Açıkmeşe, Behçet
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Chung, Benjamin
Echigo, Kazuya
Açıkmeşe, Behçet
author_facet Chung, Benjamin
Echigo, Kazuya
Açıkmeşe, Behçet
contents We describe a successive convex programming (Sequential Convex Programming (SCP)) based approach for estimate the set of points where a 5-degree of freedom (5-DoF) reusable launch vehicle (RLV) returning to a landing site can transition from aerodynamic to propulsive descent. Determining the set of feasible ignition points that a RLV can use and then safely land is important for mission planning and range safety. However, past trajectory optimization approaches for RLVs consider substantially simplified versions of the vehicle dynamics. Furthermore, prior reachability analysis methods either do not extend to the full constraint set needed for an RLV or are too beset by the curse of dimensionality to handle the full 5-DoF dynamics. To solve this problem, we describe an algorithm that approximates the projection of a high dimensional reachable set onto a low dimensional space. Instead of computing all parts of the reachable space, we only calculate reachability in the projected space of interest by using repeated trajectory optimization to sample the reachable polytope in the reduced space. The optimization can take into account initial and terminal constraints as well as state and control constraints. We show that our algorithm is able to compute the projection of a reachable set into a low dimensional space by calculating the feasible ignition points for a two-phase aerodynamic/propulsive RLV landing trajectory, while also demonstrating the aerodynamic divert enabled by our body and fin actuator model.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_11862
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Ignition Point Reachability for Aerodynamically-Controlled Reusable Launch Vehicles
Chung, Benjamin
Echigo, Kazuya
Açıkmeşe, Behçet
Systems and Control
We describe a successive convex programming (Sequential Convex Programming (SCP)) based approach for estimate the set of points where a 5-degree of freedom (5-DoF) reusable launch vehicle (RLV) returning to a landing site can transition from aerodynamic to propulsive descent. Determining the set of feasible ignition points that a RLV can use and then safely land is important for mission planning and range safety. However, past trajectory optimization approaches for RLVs consider substantially simplified versions of the vehicle dynamics. Furthermore, prior reachability analysis methods either do not extend to the full constraint set needed for an RLV or are too beset by the curse of dimensionality to handle the full 5-DoF dynamics. To solve this problem, we describe an algorithm that approximates the projection of a high dimensional reachable set onto a low dimensional space. Instead of computing all parts of the reachable space, we only calculate reachability in the projected space of interest by using repeated trajectory optimization to sample the reachable polytope in the reduced space. The optimization can take into account initial and terminal constraints as well as state and control constraints. We show that our algorithm is able to compute the projection of a reachable set into a low dimensional space by calculating the feasible ignition points for a two-phase aerodynamic/propulsive RLV landing trajectory, while also demonstrating the aerodynamic divert enabled by our body and fin actuator model.
title Ignition Point Reachability for Aerodynamically-Controlled Reusable Launch Vehicles
topic Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.11862