Trajectory Planning for Hypersonic Glide Vehicle Entry Guidance

Trajectory design of hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) is an important part for its system design and entry guidance research. Usually, trajectory design problems can solved as optimal control problems (OCP), but it is not effective because of its calculation cost. In this paper, parameterized angle of attack on normalized energy interval is used in trajectory optimization based on drag acceleration profile which is an reduced order design method which is an effective one. In this method, Cubic spline interpolation method can be used to depict the reference drag acceleration profile based on energy interval, Gauss-Lobatto quadrature rule used to calculate range and heating load with high accuracy. The conclusion shows this alternate method can be used to obtain specific range trajectory with minimum heating load. This reference trajectory planning method is simple and effective for reference trajectory design for entry guidance of HGV, its rapidity is the most critical characteristic for onboard guidance.