Terminal area trajectory planning using the energy-tube concept for reusable launch vehicles

This paper concerns a terminal area energy management (TAEM) guidance system for a winged re-entry vehicle and describes the use of the energy-tube concept in a planning and estimation algorithm. In this paper, the focus is on the analysis of the energy management capabilities during changes in the initial conditions. The planning algorithm calculates the best heading alignment cylinder (HAC) position, based on the initial state at the TAEM interface. A cross-section of the energy tube contains all combinations of altitude and velocity from which it is possible to reach the runway. Ideally, the re-entry vehicle enters the terminal area in the ‘middle’ of the cross-section such that it has sufficient capabilities to react to off-nominal conditions that would require more or less energy dissipation. Each HAC position has a particular energy-tube cross-section. By shifting the HAC position, an optimal HAC can be found such that the initial state is situated in the middle of the cross-section. The planning algorithm uses a nominal longitudinal strategy, which is situated in between the maximum-dive and maximum-range capabilities, to calculate the optimal HAC position. However, in some cases the nominal longitudinal strategy is insufficient to reach the runway. Hence, in these cases, deviations from the nominal longitudinal strategy (nominal energy dissipation) are required during the actual flight. These deviations are calculated by the estimation algorithm and the magnitude of the deviation is based on the current position in the energy tube.