Trajectory prediction tools for conceptual design of orbital and suborbital launch vehicles

Abstract

The need for three degrees of freedom (3DOF) trajectory calculation arises due to two key requirements: First, a precise 3DOF trajectory prediction is an important subroutine of a comprehensive conceptual design tool for launch vehicles, as the main purpose of such a tool is to design a vehicle that is capable of transporting a payload to the desired orbit as realistic as possible. Secondly, it is extremely important to determine the drop zones of separated stages or fairing of the launch vehicle with high accuracy regarding safety and reuse issues. Besides, it may be crucial to determine the landing position of payload in a suborbital launch. For early phases of the conceptual design process, 3DOF trajectory prediction is recommended practice for a satisfactory design analysis. This paper aims to present two different 3DOF trajectory prediction tools, developed simultaneously for both multistage suborbital and orbital launchers, called Sonda-M and Sonda-S. Trajectory predictions are carried out for REXUS-5 sounding rocket of Eurolaunch and predicted results are compared with campaign report accessed from open literature for further evaluation of developed tools.