Reentry trajectory optimization of airbreathing hypersonic vehicles based on Gauss pseudospectral method

According to the nonlinear, multivariable and multi-constraint features of the reentry trajectory optimization problem of airbreathing hypersonic vehicles, a suboptimal solution method is developed. The reentry trajectory generation is converted to a nonlinear programming (NLP) problem by using Gauss pseudospectral method (GPM). The state and control variables on Gauss nodes are chosen as parameters to be optimized and the minimum total heat absorption is chosen as the optimal performance index. Then the sequential quadratic programming (SQP) method is used to solve the NLP problem. The states of optimized trajectory are compared with the states obtained by the integral of kinetic equations. By simulating on an example of airbreathing hypersonic vehicles, it is demonstrated that the above method is not sensitive to the estimate of motion states and is easier to converge. And the method is effective to solve trajectory optimization problems.