Mission Profile Analysis of Point-to-Point Rocket Cargo Transportation System Using Trajectory Optimization

Abstract

This paper proposes new concepts for the point-to-point rocket cargo transportation system (RCTS). The RCTS is a transportation system that can deliver cargo anywhere on Earth in an hour using reusable launch vehicle technologies. As a fundamental study of global transportation on Earth, we especially address the mission profiles for short-range transportation within hundreds of kilometers using small rocket engines, which are intended for logistics transportation within neighboring countries or domestic transportation in a country. Two mission profiles of the RCTS are introduced, and the flight phases of each concept are explained in detail. The trajectory optimization problem of the RCTS is formulated based on the mission profiles, incorporating the flight constraints, boundary conditions, and an objective function that aims to maximize the payload ratio. The explicit-guidance is employed during the landing burn phase to enhance the convergence of the optimization problem by expanding the feasible region. The coevolutionary augmented Lagrangian method, one of the evolutionary algorithms, is utilized to obtain the solution for the trajectory optimization problem. The optimal trajectory and state variables are presented through numerical simulations. Additionally, parametric studies are performed to determine the payload mass trend of the RCTS. The trajectory optimization results are summarized to provide an analysis and comparison of the proposed mission profiles.