Superior Control of Spacecraft Re-Entry Trajectory

This paper focuses on the re-entry phase of lunar return spacecraft and addresses the design optimization of their re-entry trajectories in real-world conditions. Considering various constraints of re-entry flights, this study introduces a refined superior control theory, drawing from Xuesen Qian’s descriptions in engineering control theory, and presents a specific superior control algorithm. The designed superior control algorithm and the traditional weighted optimal control algorithm were employed to simulate the lunar return and re-entry processes. Two representative trajectories were selected for a comparative analysis to obtain various parameters. Results indicate that the trajectory optimized using the weighted optimal control algorithm can only ensure that multiple performance indexes are optimized according to preset weights but cannot achieve superior performance in all metrics. In contrast, trajectories optimized using the superior control algorithm effectively leverage the permissible floating range of performance indexes without exceeding the maximum limit, thereby ensuring superior performance in all metrics. This paper is the first to refine the superior control theory proposed by Xuesen Qian, to design a specific algorithm theory for superior control, and to apply it to aerospace re-entry trajectory optimization—providing a theoretical foundation for future non-weighted control algorithm developments.