Multi-objective suborbit/orbit trajectory optimisation for spaceplanes

Journal article, 2020

In this paper, a suborbit to orbit mission profile is analysed for spaceplanes. The proposed mission profile for spaceplanes is currently being considered for multiple earth observation missions and is considered as an extension of the skip re-entry problem which is a highly coupled and nonlinear problem. To solve the problem, we utilise both the Fuzzy Satisfactory Goal Programming (FSGP) method and the Radau Pseudospectral Method (RPM) as the problem includes more than two objective functions conflicting with each other, and needs to be optimised with pre-emptive priorities. A realistic spaceplane model is used with equality and inequality constraints, to demonstrate the feasibility of suborbit-orbit-suborbit manoeuvres through numerical simulations. The simulation results generated by the proposed methodology show that significant propellant savings can be made using multi-objective trajectory optimisation for spaceplanes for future theatre observation missions.