The Study of Selected Aspects of the Suborbital Vehicle Return Flight Trajectory

The article presents the results of preliminary studies of the parameters of the return flight trajectory of a rocket plane for suborbital tourist flights into space. The rocket plane is designed as a tailless vehicle and has an unconventional arrangement of control surfaces: elevons and side plates...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Aerospace 2023-05, Vol.10 (5), p.489
Main Authors: Kwiek, Agnieszka, Figat, Marcin, Goetzendorf-Grabowski, Tomasz
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerodynamics
Aircraft
Augmentation systems
Aviation
Control surfaces
Damping
Dynamic stability
Eigenvalues
Elevons
flight simulation
Mach number
Numerical simulations
Parameters
response to control
rocket plane
Rocket planes
Rockets
Satellites
Simulation methods
Space exploration
Space stations
Spacecraft
Stability analysis
Stability augmentation
Stratosphere
Suborbital flight
Supersonic aircraft
Trajectories
Vehicles
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Summary:The article presents the results of preliminary studies of the parameters of the return flight trajectory of a rocket plane for suborbital tourist flights into space. The rocket plane is designed as a tailless vehicle and has an unconventional arrangement of control surfaces: elevons and side plates that can rotate. The main aim of the research presented in this paper is to investigate the dynamic stability of the rocket plane and the response to control in the return suborbital flight. The secondary objective is to study the behavior of the rocket plane with respect to the initial state of the return flight. The key parameters taken into account in this study are the Mach number and G-load. Moreover, a study of the trim condition, dynamic stability and response to control of a rocket plane in the low part of the stratosphere is presented. The tests were carried out using a numerical simulation of the flight of a rocket plane. Dynamic stability was determined on the basis of time history analysis, and the results were compared with the results obtained by solving the eigenvalues problem. The results revealed that the rocket plane should be equipped with a Stability Augmentation System to improve short period damping at supersonic speeds at moderate altitudes. It can also be concluded that the maximum load G and Ma do not occur at the same height of flight. In terms of the effectiveness of the control surfaces, they start working at an altitude of 55 km. Due to the speed regime, the obtained results can be useful in the design of such objects as rocket planes, highly maneuverable and supersonic aircraft.
ISSN:2226-4310
2226-4310
DOI:10.3390/aerospace10050489