Optimal aeroassisted symmetric transfer between coplanar elliptical orbits

The problem of optimal aeroassisted symmetric transfer between elliptical orbits is concerned.The complete trajectory is assumed as consisting of two impulsive velocity changes at the beginning and the end of an interior atmospheric subarc,where the vehicle is controlled via the lift coefficient and thrust.The corresponding dynamic equations are built and bounded controls are considered.For the purpose of optimization computation,the equations are normalized.In order to minimize the total fuel consumption,the geocentric radius of initial elliptical transfer orbital perigee and controls during atmospheric flight should all be optimized.It is an optimal control problem which involves additional parameter optimization.To solve the problem,a two-level optimization method denoted by ＂genetic algorithm ＋ Gauss pseudospectral method＂ is adopted：the genetic algorithm is used for parameter optimization and the Gauss pseudospectral method is used for optimal control problems.The flow chart of simulation is given.On this basis,the issue of more realistic modeling with two finite-thrust subarcs in the nonatmospheric part of the trajectory is simultaneously addressed.The orbital transfer problem is transformed to three continuous optimal control problems,and the constraints at different times are given,which are respectively solved by using the Gauss pseudospectral method.The obtained numerical results indicate that the optimal thrust control is of bangbang type.The minimum-fuel trajectory in the atmosphere consists of aeroglide,aerocruise and aeroglide.They are compared with the results of pure impulsive model,and the conclusions that a significant fuel saving will be achieved by synergetic maneuver are drawn.

Effect of Spacecraft Aerodynamics and Heat Shield Characteristics on Optimal Aeroassisted Transfer

A spacecraft designed to operate in a planetary atmosphere must have an adequate heat shield to withstand the high heat fluxes and heat loads that are generated by aerodynamic heating. Very often, the mass of the thermal protection system is a significant fraction of the total mass of the vehicle. In contrast, performing maneuvers in the atmosphere, that would be very costly in terms of propellant consumption if they were performed completely outside of the atmosphere in a classic way, is a very attractive prospective technique. The advantages and disadvantages in terms of total mass spared must be determined. The mission investigated involves an aeroassisted coplanar transfer from a high to a low Earth orbit. The approach uses a combination of three propulsive impulses in space together with an aerodynamic maneuver in the atmosphere. The heat shield adopted is fully ablative, given the expected high values of the entering heat flux. The convenience of the aeroassisted maneuver and the influence of the parameters involved are evaluated in comparison to a conventional Hohmann transfer. In particular, a parametric analysis is performed by varying the following characteristics of the vehicle: aerodynamic efficiency, mass-to-surface ratio, deorbit impulse, and initial altitude of the orbit. The influence of the thermal protection system is examined by assessing the impact of the type of ablative material employed, the thermal safety factor, and the allowable temperature for the adhesive layer on the substructure. The analysis is conducted with a highly representative thermal model by coupling the dynamic and thermal analyses and using a genetic optimizer. The optimization methodology and the thermal model are completely original. The results indicate the importance of choosing low-density ablative materials, of adopting a suitable thermal safety factor, and of choosing high-performance adhesives. The optimal trajectories obtained correspond to a zero second propulsive impulse.

High-fidelity trajectory optimization for aeroassisted vehicles using variable order pseudospectral method

In this study,the problem of time-optimal reconnaissance trajectory design for the aeroassisted vehicle is considered.Different from most works reported previously,we explore the feasibility of applying a high-order aeroassisted vehicle dynamic model to plan the optimal flight trajectory such that the gap between the simulated model and the real system can be narrowed.A highly-constrained optimal control model containing six-degree-of-freedom vehicle dynamics is established.To solve the formulated high-order trajectory planning model,a pipelined optimization strategy is illustrated.This approach is based on the variable order Radau pseudospectral method,indicating that the mesh grid used for discretizing the continuous system experiences several adaption iterations.Utilization of such a strategy can potentially smooth the flight trajectory and improve the algorithm convergence ability.Numerical simulations are reported to demonstrate some key features of the optimized flight trajectory.A number of comparative studies are also provided to verify the effectiveness of the applied method as well as the high-order trajectory planning model.