RLV’s re-entry trajectory optimization
based on B-spline theory
Peng Han
School of Aerospace Engineering
Beijing Institute of Technology
Beijing, China
hanpeng@bit.edu.cn
Abstract—A new computational optimization approach is
proposed to generate Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV)’s re-entry
trajectory. With the application of the new method, all state
variables are approximated by B-spline curves. After the
trajectory optimization problem is transformed into a general
nonlinear programming (NLP) problem, which parameters to be
optimized are coefficients of the B-spline curves and control
variables at every node and interpolation point, a nonlinear
programming solver is selected to determine the parameters.
Simulation results show that the optimized re-entry trajectories
satisfy the path constraints, and can accomplish the desired
terminal conditions. Compared with the Direct Collocation with
Nonlinear Programming (DCNLP) method, the new approach is
better in continuity and has fewer coefficients to be determined;
moreover, the new approach can achieve better performance
index.
Keywords-RLV; trajectory optimization; DCNLP; B-spline
curves
I. INTRODUCTION
During re-entry segment, Reusable Launch Vehicle
(RLV)’s model is highly nonlinear and strong coupling. RLV
also has a variety of nonlinear constraints, so re-entry is the
most challenging flight phase. Many researchers focus on
RLV’s re-entry trajectory optimization in preliminary design.
Numerical methods for trajectory optimization are
classified into two methods [1]: indirect methods and direct
methods. In an indirect method, the calculus of variations and
Pontryagin minimum Principle [2] are employed to obtain the
first-order optimality conditions, and then the solution can be
found through solving the resulting Hamiltonian boundary-
value problem (HBVP). If solvable, HBVP produces state,
control, and costate variables, so we can know how close to
true optimal solution. However, indirect methods are generally
intractable due to the following reasons [3]: 1) the convergence
radius of indirect methods is small. 2) It’s difficult to solve
HBVP because the solution of HBVB is very sensitive to the
initial guesses for the costate variables. 3) Often, the optimality
conditions cannot even be derived.
In a direct method, the state and/or control variables are
approximated using piecewise constant parameterization. Then
the optimal problem is transformed to a normal nonlinear
978-1-4244-8165-1/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE
4942
Jiayuan Shan
School of Aerospace Engineering
Beijing Institute of Technology
Beijing, China
sjy1919@bit.edu.cn
programming (NLP) problem, which parameters to be
optimized are discretized state variables and/or control
variables at every node. The direct method is widely used by
many researchers to solve trajectory optimization problems for
many reasons. First, the convergence radius of direct methods
is larger than that of indirect methods. Second, it does not
require an initial guess for the costate variables. Finally, it’s
much easier to solve NLP problem than to solve HBVP
because many well-known software programs exist (e.g.,
SNOPT, NPSOL.) to solve large sparse NLP problem. In the
Direct Collocation with Nonlinear Programming (DCNLP) [4],
the most commonly used direct method [5, 6], the state
variables are approximated to be the piecewise Hermite cubic
polynomial between each interval. Consequently, DCNLP
method leads to poor continuously differentiability at every
node and too many parameters to be determined in the whole
range.
A new direct method is proposed in this paper to generate
RLV’s re-entry trajectory. With the application of the new
method, all state variables are represented by B-spline curves.
After transforming the trajectory optimization problem into a
general NLP problem, the parameters to be optimized are
unknown coefficients of the B-spline curves and control
variables at every node. Compared with DCNLP method, the
new approach is better in continuity and has fewer coefficients
to be determined.
II. OPTIMIZATION BASED ON B-SPLINE THEORY
A. The Feature of B-spline Curves
Suppose the RLV’s dynamics model equations are
described by:
X = F ( x(t ), u (t ), t ) . (1)
Where, x , u , t are state, control and time variables
respectively.
The time interval of whole re-entry phase is adopted by
[t0, t f ] , divide phase into segments:
0 = t 0 < " ti −1 < " < t N = t f .
 Define a variable ζ (t ) : ­
°
ζ (t ) = (t − ti −1 ) / τ i , t ∈ [ti −1 , ti ] . ° fi (1) = fi +1 (0)
°° dfi df
Where, τ i = ti − ti −1 , so we can get ζ (t ) ∈ [0,1] . ® (1) = i +1 ( 0 ) . (5)
° dζ dζ
In the paper, the state variables are approximated to be °d2 f d 2
f i +1
cubic uniform B-spline (CUBS) curves. B-spline curve has ° 2i (1) = ( 0)
°̄ dζ dζ 2
been widely used in many domains, such as: vehicle shape
design, computer graphics and computer-aided design [7]. A
Where, i ∈ [1, N − 1] . Equation (5) indicates that the CUBS
CUBS curve is illustrated in Fig. 1.
is two times continuously differentiable at every node.

B. Preliminary Analysis
1) Analysis on DCNLP method:
Between each interval in DCNLP method, the state
variables are approximated to be the piecewise Hermite cubic
polynomial: xi (ζ ) = ai 0 + ai1ζ i + ai 2ζ i 2 + ai 3ζ i 3 .The method
have the following two drawbacks:
a) Poor continuously differentiability at every node: In
the N segments, the curves generated from the piecewise
polynomials are discontinuous. In order to make the
Figure 1. A cubic uniform B-spline curve independent curves connect to each other to form one complete
curve on the whole time period, DCNLP method have two
In Fig.1, the marked black points represent CUBS’s N + 3 extra boundary constraints:
“control points” P1 , P2 ," , PN + 3 , and the solid line express the • The value of the end of the i -th curve must be equal to
N curves generated from the control points. In the the value of the start point of the i + 1 -th curve.
segment [ti −1 , ti ] , their expression in matrix form is written as
• The first order derivative of the end of the i -th curve
must be equal to first order derivative of the start point
of the i + 1 -th curve.
ª −1 3 −3 1 º ªζ 3 º
« 3 −6 0 « »
1 4 »» «ζ 2 » However, the two constraints can guarantee only one time
f i (ζ ) = [ Pi Pi +1 Pi + 2 Pi + 3 ] « . (2) continuously differentiability at every node.
6 « −3 3 3 1» « ζ »
« »« »
¬1 0 0 0 ¼ ¬« 1 ¼» b) Too many parameters to be determined in the whole
range: Each piecewise Hermite cubic polynomial has 4
The first order derivative of ζ is parameters ai 0 , ai1 , ai 2 , ai 3 , so there are 4 * N parameters to
be determined totally. Besides, the approach used for
dfi 1 1
parameters determination is complicated. DCNLP method first
(ζ ) = − Pi (1 − ζ ) 2 + Pi +1 (3ζ 2 − 4ζ ) explores the law between Hermite cubic polynomial’s
dζ 2 2
. (3) parameters and discretized state variables and/or control
1 1 variables at every node. After the state variables and/or control
+ Pi + 2 ( −3ζ + 2ζ + 1) + Pi + 3ζ 2
2

2 2 variables are optimized by NLP solvers, the parameters of the

Hermite cubic polynomial can be determined indirectly.
The second order derivative of ζ is
2) Analysis on method based on B-spline theory
Compared with piecewise Hermite cubic polynomial, B-
d 2 fi spline curve has the following advantages:
(ζ ) = Pi (1 − ζ ) + Pi +1 (3ζ − 2) + Pi + 2 (−3ζ + 1) + Pi + 3ζ . (4)
dζ 2 • The cubic uniform B-splines (CUBS) with degree of
three are infinitely differentiable within their domain
Where, i ∈ [1, N ] ˈ ζ ∈ [0,1] . expect nodes, while they are 2 times continuously
differentiable at every node. This means the B-splines
From (3) and (4), we can deduce that the curves in segment curve is smoother than piecewise polynomial’s used by
[ti −1 , ti ] and [ti , ti +1 ] satisfy the following equations: DCNLP.
• In the N segments, the cubic uniform B-splines only
have N + 3 parameters (control points) to be
determined, so this will be reduce the unknown

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 coefficients greatly compared with Hermite cubic
polynomials.
C. Trajectory Optimization Algorithm
In order to ensure that the state variables approximated by
CUBS satisfy the RLV’s dynamics model (1), the following
constraints are deduced.
1) At every node and interpolation point, the first order
derivative of CUBS must be equal with (1).
According to (2), the values of state variables approximated
by CUBS on N + 1 nodes are:
xi =1, N +1 = [ f1 (0), f 2 (0),", f N (0), f N (1)] .
The first order derivative of ζ is adopted by x ′ .
2) Numerical integration constraints on each segment
The states are integrated by the third order Simpson’s rule
on each segment. So, the defect yields:
τ
Δi = xi +1 − xi − [ F ( xi , ui , t ) + 4F ( xic , uic , t ) + F ( xi +1 , ui+1 , t )] = 0 . (13)
6
Where, i ∈ [1, N ] . Now, the state differential equations have
been parameterized by the new method. Equation (9), (12), (13)
transform the state differential equations into nonlinear equality
constraints. Then, the optimal control problems can be
formulated as NLP problems, while optimizing the
performance index and satisfying all kinds of constraints,
(6) which parameters to be determined are coefficients of the B-
spline curves and control variables at every node and
interpolation point.

df1 df df df z = [ P1 , P2 , ", PN + 3 , u1 , u2 ,", uN +1 , u1c , u2 c , ", u Nc ] . (14)

xi′=1, N +1 = [ (0), 2 (0),", N (0), N (1)] . (7)
dζ dζ dζ dζ
III. MODELING
While,
A. Equations of Motion
df df d ζ 1 During re-entry segment, the RLV is modeled as a point
= ⋅ = x′ ⋅ . (8)
dt dζ dt τ mass flying over a spherical non-rotating earth. The equations
of motion are as follows [8]:
So, on N + 1 nodes, the constraints are expressed as:

­ Cx qS
τ ⋅ F ( xi , ui , t ) = xi′ , i ∈ [1, N + 1] . (9) °v = − m − g sin θT
°
°θ = CL qS cosυ − g cosθT + v cosθT
Where, ui denotes the values of control variables at a node ° T mv v r
°
point. Suppose the interpolation point locates at midpoint of °σ = − CL qS sin υ + v tan φ cosθT sin σ T
every segment [ti , ti +1 ] , namely ζ = 1/ 2 . The values of state ° T mv cosθT r
® . (15)
variables on N interpolation points are: ° v cos θ cos σ
°φ = T T

° r
xic ( i =1, N ) = [ f1 (0.5), f 2 (0.5),", f N (0.5)] . ° v cosθT sin σ T
(10) °λ = −
° r cos φ
°¯r = v sin θT
At interpolation points, the first order derivative of ζ is
adopted by xc′ . Where the state variables are velocity v (m/s), flight path
angle θT (rad), velocity azimuth angle σ T (rad), geodetic
df1 df df latitude φ (rad), longitude λ (rad), distance from the center of
xic′ ( i =1, N ) = [ (0.5), 1 (0.5),", 1 (0.5)] . (11) Earth to the vehicle r (m). The angle of attack α (rad) and the
dζ dζ dζ
bank angle υ (rad) are adopted as control variables.
The constraints are given by: Where the mass of the RLV is denoted by m ( kg ), and
S ( m2 ) represents reference area. C x , C L are the aerodynamic
τ ⋅ F ( xic , uic , t ) = xic′ ˈ i ∈ [1, N ] . (12) drag and lift force coefficients, and they are functions of Mach
number and angle of attack.
Where, uic denote the values of control variables at Where q = 1/ 2* ρ v 2 is the dynamic pressure. Air density
interpolation points. ρ is expressed by ρ = ρ 0 e − β h , here ρ0 represents atmospheric
The controls are approximated by piecewise linear density at sea level and h represents altitude. Acceleration of
interpolating polynomials, because there are no derivative gravity is modeled by g = g 0 r02 / r 2 , here g 0 represents
conditions at the node or interpolation points.

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acceleration of gravity at sea level. r0 represents mean radius The initial and final states specified as:
of the Earth. (v0 , θT 0 , σ T 0 , φT 0 , λT 0 , h0 ) = (1600m / s, −3°,90.0°, 0°, 0°, 40000.0m)
(v f , θTf , σ Tf , φTf , λTf , h f ) = (762 ± 50m / s, 0 ± 5°, free, 0 ± 0.15°, free,30000 ± 200m )
B. Performance Index
Because the RLV is heading west from ( 0°, 0° ), the
The purpose of the research is to find angle of attack and performance index can be formulated as
bank angle history to maximum downrange in longitude profile.
So, the cost function is:
J = max( downrange) = min(λ f ) . (22)
J = max(downrange) . (16) The path limits and control inequality constraints are
specified respectively as
C. Reentry Constraints
ª qs max º ª 250kw / m º
2

1) Heat rate constraint: The heating rate on the stagnation « n »=« »

« » « 2.5 ».
regions on the surface of the RLV cannot exceed the maximum
¬« qmax ¼» «¬ 16.38 Kpa »¼
limit.
ª 15° º ªα º ª 20°º
« −45°» ≤ «υ » ≤ « 45°» .
0.5
ks § ρ · § v ·
3
¬ ¼ ¬ ¼ ¬ ¼
qs = ¨ ¸ ¨ ¸ ≤ qs max . (17) We divide the RLV’s gliding segment [t0, t f ] into 10 equal
Rd © ρ0 ¹ © v1 ¹
portions. There are 6 state variables and 2 control variables at
Where, ks and Rd are constants associated with RLV. v1 is each node. Beside, the final time t f is unknown, so there are
6*(10+3)+2*(10+1)+2*10+1=121 parameters to be optimized.
expressed by gr .
Finally, a NLP problem solver SNOPT is selected to determine
2) Normal load constraint: The normal load n must be the parameters.
less than the typical limit. The optimization calculation cost 27.2s, which is carried
out on a 2.7GHz/AMD Athlon64×2 CPU with Windows 7
n = L2 + D 2 / mg ≤ nmax . (18) system and Matlab2011a. Finally, we obtain that the final time
is 438.694s and the results of control variables histories are
also illustrated in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3.
Where, the aerodynamic forces, lift L and drag D are
given by L = CL qS , D = CD qS .
3) Dynamic pressure constraint: An airload constraint
based on dynamic pressure is stated by:

1 2
q= ρ v ≤ qmax . (19)
2

4) Terminal state constraint: In order to reach Terminal

Aera Energy Managemenr (TAEM) phase successfully, some
of the terminal states of reentry must be subjected to terminal
constraints. Figure 2. Angel of attack
5) Control variable constraint: The control variables
inequality constraints are specified respectively as

­°α min ≤ α ≤ α max

® . (20)
°̄ υ ≤ υmax

IV. SIMULATION AND ANALYSIS

RLV’s re-entry phase can be divided into initial descending
segment and gliding segment, and only the gliding segment is
researched in this paper. Thus, the optimal control formulation
for RLV problem is stated as follows: given initial states, find
the control history that minimizes the performance index to the Figure 3. Bank angel
predefined target under various constraints.

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 Figure 4. Velocity Figure 6. Altitude trajectories between two methods

Table 1 is provided to list the results of performance index

between DCNLP and the new method under same conditions
and constraints expressed above, while Fig. 6 shows the
altitude trajectories optimized from the two methods. The
fewer segments discretized in the new method based on B-
spline theory provide better performance index than DCNLP.

V. CONCLUSION
A new optimization approach is proposed to generate
RLV’s re-entry trajectory. Simulation results show that the new
method only cost little time and the optimized re-entry
trajectories satisfy the path and terminal state constraints
Figure 5. Altitude successfully. Compared with DCNLP method, the new
approach is better in continuity and has fewer coefficients to be
In Fig. 4~ Fig. 5, the solid line represents the state variable determined; moreover, the new approach can achieve better
curve generated from B-spline, while the dashed line shows the performance index.
state variable history from simulation in (15) with control
variables in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. There is a slight difference REFERENCES
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