3D-trajectory optimization of a single-stage VTVL-system

A new and improved version of the multiple shooting method is presented. The new features include the use of dynamic nodes, improved convergence strategies, and hierarchical, adaptive approximation techniques significantly simplifying the numerical treatment of complicated problems in aerospace engineering. As a demanding application of the new algorithm, an optimal 3D ascent trajectory including singular subarcs is calculated for a single-stage, suborbital hypersonic demonstrator system. The mathematical model describing the motion of the rocket-powered vehicle is based on the 3D equations of motion of a point mass with reference to the spherical rotating Earth. Only a simplified model has to be formulated; the realistic model is then iteratively approximated by the algorithm. As a result of the calculations, the suitability of a VTVL single stage demonstrator system as a testbed for advanced airbreathing propulsion systems (ramjet, scramjet) is shown. (Author)