Study of optimal ascent trajectories
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1994 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved. This paper presents a study of optimal launch trajectories that minimize fuel or equivalently maximize payload. A model of the Advanced Launch System (ALS) is used for numerical experiments. The three-degree-of-freedom equations of motion for the ALS are solved by the multiple shooting method to obtain highly accurate solutions. The numerical results are presented as the open-loop optimal controls for the ALS. A sudden jump in the velocity roll angle profile during the second stage of the trajectory is noticed. The optimality of this transition is studied using hodograph analysis.