A systematic performance-oriented tuning for space exploration descent & landing

Abstract Descent & landing (D&L) on planetary bodies are scientifically rewarding exploration missions but also challenging due to the complex and poorly-known environment around those bodies. As an outcome of a cooperation between the University of Bristol and Airbus DS on D&L trajectory/cost optimisation, this paper proposes an industry-oriented methodology for guidance tuning. It employs systematic highfidelity simulation to generate trade-off maps on ground that can be applied once the spacecraft approaches the target, with its actual conditions in mind. This also provides a valuable understanding of the system dynamics towards the application of other industry-oriented tools including structuredH∞ optimisation. In the end, it is shown that this approach enables propellant consumption reductions of around 40% compared to state-of-practice tuning selections.

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