Nonlinear drag-tracking control applied to optimal low-lift reentry guidance

A nonlinear reentry control system to track a drag reference trajectory is presented. The control system is based on feedback linearization of the drag dynamics and a linear control law with constant gains to shape the drag error dynamics. Input to the control system is a smooth drag-vs-velocity profile; all other reference commands are generated by a generic guidance-control interface. The control system is simulated on a variety of drag reference profiles that are obtained by off-line trajectory optimization. Despite large variations in profile shape and nominal downrange, the same control system design demonstrates uniform tracking performance in all simulated cases while subject to significant atmospheric disturbances and drag rate estimation errors. (AIAA).