Parametrical Analyses of Liquid Fly Back Booster Ascent Controllability

Abstract

This technical note describes parametrical analyses on the ascent flight controllability of winged reusable booster stages attached to an expendable Ariane core stage. Perturbations due to wind profiles, and additional gusts are regarded. In a dynamic simulation, control is performed by thrust vector gimballing of all available booster engines. Assuming realistic control loop data, a good degreee of robustness can be observed. In contrast, an ascent flight can not be realized in a configuration with fixed booster engines and thrust vector control only by EPC's Vulcain engine.