Research on entry guidance for Reusable Launch Vehicles

In the entry phase, aero-environment is extremely complex for Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLVs). This brings a huge challenge to design the entry guidance law for RLVs. In this paper, an entry trajectory planning method for RLVs is researched and the algorithm is improved to ensure the continuity and smoothness of the longitudinal reference trajectory. Meanwhile, the skipping of trajectory control is decreased, and the flyability of trajectory is enhanced. Moreover, a new lateral guidance logic is proposed to reinforce the reliability of the algorithm. At the end of this paper, simulation and analysis are given to demonstrate the guidance method.