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Aerospace
Special Issues
Modeling, Simulation, and Control of Launch Vehicles
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Modeling, Simulation, and Control of Launch Vehicles

A special issue of Aerospace (ISSN 2226-4310). This special issue belongs to the section "Astronautics & Space Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2025) | Viewed by 4368

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Pedro Simplicio

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
European Space Agency (ESA), 2201 AZ Noordwijk, The Netherlands
Interests: robust control; nonlinear control; optimization; analytical V&V; multiphysics modeling; reusable launchers
Dr. Paul Acquatella

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
European Space Agency (ESA), 2201 AZ Noordwijk, The Netherlands
Interests: optimization; guidance and control; nonlinear control; multibody dynamics; acausal modeling
Dr. Diego Navarro-Tapia

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Aerospace Engineering, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), 28911 Leganés, Spain
Interests: robust control; launch vehicles; modeling; attitude and orbit control systems; CubeSats

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the advent of the so-called “New Space era”, the recent few years have seen a disruptive increase in the competitiveness and versatility of launch vehicles and microlaunchers being designed and built around the world. From a guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) perspective, the increased competitiveness and versatility stems from (a) the development of key capabilities such as launcher reusability and clustered engine configurations, (b) the increasing onboard computation capabilities available today, and (c) the use of design tools and techniques that allow to fully exploit these new capabilities.

This Special Issue covers the recent advances on modeling, simulation, and control tools and techniques supporting the development of launcher GNC algorithms and architectures that enable the following:

  • Higher flight performance without compromising safety;
  • Increased robustness to uncertainties, disturbances, failures, and last-minute changes;
  • Faster/simpler GNC (and vehicle) design and validation processes;
  • More autonomous mission planning and execution.

For specific topics of interest in this Special Issue, please refer to the list of keywords below. Authors are welcome to submit papers addressing both model-based and data-driven tools and techniques. Potential applications of interest include expendable launchers, reusable launchers, upper stages, and experimental vehicles.

Dr. Pedro Simplício
Dr. Paul Acquatella
Dr. Diego Navarro-Tapia
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Aerospace is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • launcher (sub)system modeling and identification (SysID)
  • uncertainty modeling and estimation
  • wind and aerodynamics estimation
  • flexibility and sloshing (reduced order) modeling and simulation
  • multiphysics, multibody, acausal modeling and simulation
  • applied control synthesis and analysis
  • control/structure co-design
  • control/trajectory co-design
  • control allocation methods
  • fault-tolerant methods

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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22 pages, 9118 KiB  
Article
Fault-Tolerant Dynamic Allocation Strategies for Launcher Systems
by Diego Navarro-Tapia, Pedro Simplício and Andrés Marcos
Aerospace 2025, 12(5), 393; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12050393 - 30 Apr 2025
Viewed by 251
Abstract
This article presents fault-tolerant dynamic allocation strategies designed to mitigate propulsion and actuation failures in launch vehicles using a clustered engine configuration. In particular, it addresses engine thrust loss and thrust vector control (TVC) jamming faults during the atmospheric ascent flight of a [...] Read more.
This article presents fault-tolerant dynamic allocation strategies designed to mitigate propulsion and actuation failures in launch vehicles using a clustered engine configuration. In particular, it addresses engine thrust loss and thrust vector control (TVC) jamming faults during the atmospheric ascent flight of a five-engine launch vehicle. Three different strategies are introduced: a fault-tolerant pseudo-inverse solution, a convex optimization-based approach, and a constrained nonlinear optimization one. These approaches are analyzed and compared at a linear design point and further evaluated using a nonlinear simulator of the launcher. The results demonstrate that these three dynamic allocation techniques are able to provide successful recovery from engine thrust loss failures (up to a certain level depending on the engine throttling capability), TVC actuator jamming failures, and simultaneous engine and actuator failures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling, Simulation, and Control of Launch Vehicles)
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42 pages, 13151 KiB  
Article
End-to-End GNC Solution for Reusable Launch Vehicles
by Jacopo Guadagnini, Pietro Ghignoni, Fabio Spada, Gabriele De Zaiacomo and Afonso Botelho
Aerospace 2025, 12(4), 339; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12040339 - 14 Apr 2025
Viewed by 337
Abstract
This paper presents an autonomous end-to-end guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) solution for a reusable launcher, addressing the challenges of precision pinpoint landing and reusability. The proposed GNC system integrates advanced onboard trajectory optimization and H∞ control to ensure robust performance across [...] Read more.
This paper presents an autonomous end-to-end guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) solution for a reusable launcher, addressing the challenges of precision pinpoint landing and reusability. The proposed GNC system integrates advanced onboard trajectory optimization and H∞ control to ensure robust performance across re-entry, aerodynamics, and landing phases. This work discusses the GNC design and definition and introduces the strategies adopted both for the guidance and the control design to handle rapidly varying dynamic environments and strict landing requirements. Particular attention is given to design choices in the guidance optimization problem and the control definition for each phase, which were made to enhance the harmonization of the guidance and control (G&C) system. The proposed GNC is integrated in a high-fidelity Functional Engineering Simulator (FES) and its robustness is assessed in a real-world scenario, considering a downrange landing mission of the RETALT1 (RETro propulsion Assisted Landing Technologies Two-Stage-To-Orbit vehicle) rocket. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling, Simulation, and Control of Launch Vehicles)
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17 pages, 1603 KiB  
Article
A Decreasing Horizon Model Predictive Control for Landing Reusable Launch Vehicles
by Guillermo Zaragoza Prous, Enric Grustan-Gutierrez and Leonard Felicetti
Aerospace 2025, 12(2), 111; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12020111 - 31 Jan 2025
Viewed by 732
Abstract
A novel approach to model predictive control (MPC) with a decreasing horizon is analysed for guiding and controlling reusable launch vehicles (RLVs) during powered descent phases. Conventional MPC methods typically use receding horizons, where optimal control inputs are computed over fixed time intervals. [...] Read more.
A novel approach to model predictive control (MPC) with a decreasing horizon is analysed for guiding and controlling reusable launch vehicles (RLVs) during powered descent phases. Conventional MPC methods typically use receding horizons, where optimal control inputs are computed over fixed time intervals. However, when applied directly, these methods can cause a hovering-like behaviour, preventing the vehicle from reaching the landing platform, as the landing time is continually deferred at each iteration. The proposed solution addresses this problem by adjusting the prediction horizon dynamically, reducing its length over time. This dynamic adjustment is driven by a time-scaling factor and the time elapsed since the previous MPC iteration. Optimal control solutions are derived through convex optimization techniques. To evaluate the algorithm’s robustness against initial conditions, a Monte Carlo analysis is performed by varying initial position, velocity and mass. This method can also be used as a viable methodology for selecting tuning parameters for the MPC to ensure a successful and safe landing for a wide range of initial conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling, Simulation, and Control of Launch Vehicles)
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24 pages, 4860 KiB  
Article
Damped Iterative Explicit Guidance for Multistage Rockets with Thrust Drop Faults
by Zongzhan Ma, Chuankui Wang, Zhi Xu, Shuo Tang and Ying Ma
Aerospace 2025, 12(1), 61; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12010061 - 16 Jan 2025
Viewed by 756
Abstract
A damped iterative explicit guidance (DIEG) algorithm is proposed to address the problem of the insufficient convergence of classical explicit guidance methods in the event of thrust drop faults in multistage rockets. Based on the iterative guidance mode (IGM) and powered explicit guidance [...] Read more.
A damped iterative explicit guidance (DIEG) algorithm is proposed to address the problem of the insufficient convergence of classical explicit guidance methods in the event of thrust drop faults in multistage rockets. Based on the iterative guidance mode (IGM) and powered explicit guidance (PEG), this method is enhanced in three aspects: (1) an accurate transversality condition is derived and applied in the dimension-reduction framework instead of using a simplified assumption; (2) the Gauss–Legendre quadrature formula (GLQF) is adopted to increase the accuracy of the method by addressing the issue of excessive errors in calculating thrust integration using linearization methods based on a small quantity assumption under fault conditions; and (3) a damping factor for solving the time-to-go is introduced to avoid the chattering phenomenon and enhance convergence. A numerical simulation was conducted in single- and multistage mission scenarios by gradually reducing the engine thrust to compare the performance of DIEG and PEG. The results show that DIEG has a much larger convergence range than PEG and has fuel optimality similar to that of the optimization method in most fault scenarios. Finally, the robustness of DIEG under various deviations is verified through Monte Carlo simulation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling, Simulation, and Control of Launch Vehicles)
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33 pages, 2122 KiB  
Article
Coupling of Advanced Guidance and Robust Control for the Descent and Precise Landing of Reusable Launchers
by Alice De Oliveira and Michèle Lavagna
Aerospace 2024, 11(11), 914; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace11110914 - 7 Nov 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1362
Abstract
This paper investigates the coupling of successive convex optimization guidance with robust structured H∞ control for the descent and precise landing of Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLVs). More particularly, this Guidance and Control (G&C) system is foreseen to be integrated into a nonlinear [...] Read more.
This paper investigates the coupling of successive convex optimization guidance with robust structured H∞ control for the descent and precise landing of Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLVs). More particularly, this Guidance and Control (G&C) system is foreseen to be integrated into a nonlinear six-degree-of-freedom RLV controlled dynamics simulator which covers the aerodynamic and powered descent phase until vertical landing of a first-stage rocket equipped with a thrust vector control system and steerable planar fins. A cost function strategy analysis is performed to find out the most efficient one to be implemented in closed-loop with the robust control system and the vehicle flight mechanics involved. In addition, the controller synthesis via structured H∞ is thoroughly described. The latter are built at different points of the descent trajectory using Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID)-like structures with feedback on the attitude angles, rates, and lateral body velocities. The architecture is verified through linear analyses as well as nonlinear cases with the aforementioned simulator, and the G&C approach is validated by comparing the performance and robustness with a baseline system in nominal conditions as well as in the presence of perturbations. The overall results show that the proposed G&C system represents a relevant candidate for realistic descent flight and precise landing phase for reusable launchers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling, Simulation, and Control of Launch Vehicles)
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