Time-coordination entry trajectory planning for multi-hypersonic vehicles

This paper proposes a time-coordination entry trajectory planning method for multi-hypersonic vehicles for scenarios where multi-hypersonic vehicles arrive at a designated area with cooperative time constraints. Firstly, the coupling problem between the re-entry flight time and lateral maneuvering of vehicle is solved, and a longitudinal trajectory planning method considering arrival time and range constraints is designed based on the binary Newton iteration method. Then, the lateral maneuvering of the vehicle is achieved on the basis of a boundary-adjustable corridor of heading angle deviation in the lateral plane. At the same time, a strategy for compensation and renewal is designed and the entry trajectory is planned iteratively until meeting the arrival time constraint. On this basis, the flight capabilities of vehicles are analyzed and a method is introduced for determining the collaborative flight time, terminal altitude and flight range of the vehicles. Finally, the numerical results of collaborative flight for multi-hypersonic vehicles show that it can be achieved of three-dimensional trajectories for multi-hypersonic vehicles using the method proposed in this paper, which meet arrival time and terminal constraints with good computational accuracy.