Combined-Cycle Propulsion-Involved Trajectory Optimization and Performance-Driven Attitude Control for Aerospace Plane During the Ascent Phase

The paper investigates the trajectory and attitude control design issues for aerospace plane equipped with combined cycle propulsion during the ascent phase. Given the complicated features and constraints arising from adopting combined cycle propulsion, the proposed trajectory optimization aims to enhance efficiency in executing missions. Also, the ascent trajectory enables the construction by the presented design even in the presence of thrust loss. Additionally, attitude control guarantees reliable tracking within the preassigned performance despite uncertainties. Tailored to the complicacies of rocket-based combined cycle engine, a methodology of trajectory optimization is established based on Legendre pseudospectral convex optimization for efficiency and optimality. By incorporating adaptive sliding mode guidance for tracking, real-time capability is achieved against existing uncertainties, while the coupling is compensated by disturbance estimation. A novel performance-driven controller ensures the attitudes remain within predefined envelope by Metzler matrix-based cooperative theory against uncertainties, while also enabling zero-endpoints. Numerical simulation demonstrates the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed design and the Monte-Carlo analysis testify its robustness.