Booster Dispersion Area Management through Aerodynamic Guidance and Control

Kurzfassung

The disruptive evolution of rockets design observed during the last decade is pushing agencies and companies to re-plan their strategy with the ultimate goal of partially or totally reusing boosters. This paper describes the first steps made in the study of guidance and control strategies aiming at reducing the dispersion area of the first stage of a rocket through aerodynamic steering, and compares the results for a low L/D body. Numerical results show that the introduction of such a mechanism reduces effectively the dispersion area compared to passively stabilized boosters.