The Role of Guidance, Navigation, and Control in Hypersonic Vehicle Multidisciplinary Design and Optimization

Airbreathing hypersonic systems offer distinct performance advantages over rocket-based systems for space access vehicles. Realization of this potential performance gain will require optimum integration of many different technology areas, including vehicle dynamics and controls. Typically detailed dynamic analysis and controls design are performed after a vehicle has completed the conceptual design phase. However, due to the complex interactions in an airbreathing hypersonic vehicle, delaying application of detailed dynamics analysis and controls design could result in suboptimal vehicle designs. The Guidance, Navigation, and Controls discipline of NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Program Hypersonics area is applying dynamic analysis and controls design early in the vehicle conceptual design. This activity includes development of controls focused dynamic models, creation of an integrated design environment for dynamics analysis and controls design, and early evaluation of vehicle controllability aspects. This effort will provide valuable insight into the vehicle multidisciplinary design and optimization phase.