Higher-order sliding-mode observer for state estimation in a Near Space Vehicle

Near Space Vehicles draw more attention for its high speed transportation and affordable space access. However, advanced control methods for Near Space Vehicles always required full information on the state. In this paper, a higher-order sliding-mode observer is proposed in MIMO nonlinear longitudinal dynamic equations. The observable states can be estimated exactly and the unobservable ones will be identified asymptotically. Numerical simulations illustrate the efficacy of the proposed observer.