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CEAS EuroGNC 2024

Fault-Tolerant Control for a Cluster of Rocket Engines - Results for launch and landing of a re-usable launcher
Cristina Roche Arroyos GNC Engineer, GMV, 1990-392, Lisbon, Portugal.
Matteo Pascucci GNC Engineer, GMV, 1990-392, Lisbon, Portugal.
Nuno Paulino Senior Engineer, GMV, 1990-392, Lisbon, Portugal.
Jorge Arnedo GNC Engineer, GMV, 28760, Madrid, Spain.
Diego Navarro-Tapia Senior Research Associate, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Aerospace Eng. Dept., 28911, Madrid, Spain [The work presented was peformed when author was senior engineer at Technology for Aerospace Control Ltd (TASC), UK]
Andrés Marcos Beatriz Galindo Senior Distinguished Investigator, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Aerospace Eng. Dept., 28911, Madrid, Spain[The work presented was peformed when author was scientific director of Technology for Aerospace Control Ltd (TASC), UK]
Mohamed Lalami Senior system Control, Actuation Business unit SABCA, 1470 Belgium.
Paul Alexandre Actuation systems Expert, Actuation Business unit SABCA, 1470 Belgium.
Pedro Simplício GNC Engineer, Aurora Technology for ESA-ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, Netherlands.
Massimo Casasco Head of the Guidance, Navigation and Control Section, ESA-ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, Netherlands.
Abstract:
The project entitled "Fault-Tolerant Control of Clusters of Rocket Engines (FTC-CRE)" was an activity supported by the European Space Agency aimed at the demonstration of guidance and control (G&C) laws for launch vehicles with cluster of engines, with focus on reconfiguration capabilities in case of propulsion and Thrust Vector Control (TVC) failures. The analyzed scenario covered the entire trajectory of the first stage, encompassing the Ascent phase of the complete vehicle from take-off to separation, as well as the Descent for the first stage reusability, which includes the re-entry and landing burn of the detached first stage. The objectives of this project were to study and define suitable requirements and to propose and demonstrate valid methodologies for guidance and control architectures with embedded fault tolerant capabilities. In addition, the project required to demonstrate the increase in readiness level for recovery strategies in the presence of failures in terms of stability and performance. This article provides an overview of the activity, the description of launcher benchmark, and a summary of the results and findings attained in the project, which concluded in December 2023.
Keywords: Guidance and Control; Fault-Tolerant Control; Re-entry; Reusable Launcher; Successive Convexification Trajectory Generation; Thrust Vector Control; TVC Allocation Pseudo-Inverse; TVC Failure; Propulsion Failure; Cluster of Rocket Engines; Onboard Guidance.
 View PDF CEAS-GNC-2024-045


Cristina Roche Arroyos, Matteo Pascucci, Nuno Paulino, Jorge Arnedo, Diego Navarro-Tapia, Andrés Marcos, Mohamed Lalami, Paul Alexandre, Pedro Simplício, Massimo Casasco: Fault-Tolerant Control for a Cluster of Rocket Engines - Results for launch and landing of a re-usable launcher. Proceedings of the 2024 CEAS EuroGNC conference. Bristol, UK. June 2024. CEAS-GNC-2024-045.
BibTeX entry:

@Incollection{CEAS-GNC-2024-045,
    author = {Roche Arroyos, Cristina and Pascucci, Matteo and Paulino, Nuno and Arnedo, Jorge and Navarro-Tapia, Diego and Marcos, Andrés and Lalami, Mohamed and Alexandre, Paul and Simplício, Pedro and Casasco, Massimo},
    title = {Fault-Tolerant Control for a Cluster of Rocket Engines - Results for launch and landing of a re-usable launcher},
    booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2024 {CEAS EuroGNC} conference},
    address = {Bristol, UK},
    month = jun,
    year = {2024},
    note = {CEAS-GNC-2024-045}
}