VS controller design for simulation of the SpaceLiner suborbital two-staged reusable launch vehicle using SIFCDL (Simulation Integrated Flight Controller Development Lab)

Abstract

To allow the testing and evaluation of procedures and functionalities for an improved handling of space vehicle operation on ATM stakeholder level, a Space & Air Traffic Management (SATM) testbed has been established at DLR. It has to cover Aeronautical Information Management integration concepts, Air Traffic Control procedure adaptations and Air Traffic Controller Support as well as required System Wide Information Management (SWIM) based data exchange aspects. One key element of the SATM testbed is a Space Flight Simulator, which has been provided with a realistic flight dynamics model (FDM) for the SpaceLiner orbiter, a two-staged suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) which aims at future high-speed intercontinental passenger transport. To provide realistic flight behavior, the simulation model, based on X-Plane, shall be equipped with vertical speed autopilot controller. Core of each flight controller development is the precise derivation of the functional flight controller requirements from the aircraft dynamics. Using tabled flight dynamics data of unknown granularity contains the risk of fine grained controller tuning based on a too coarse grained fundament. The presented solution is based on the geometry modeled SpaceLiner flight dynamics in X-Plane, using SIFCDL for first findings of a vertical speed autopilot controller.