Spin-stabilized orbital rocket guidance
AssigneeNational Technology & Egineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC
InventorJeffrey C. Gilkey
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Technologies for guidance of a spin-stabilized orbital rocket are described herein. The spin-stabilized rocket includes a guidance controller. The guidance controller computes parameters of a burn of a second-stage engine of the rocket to reach a desired nominal orbit subsequent to burnout of the first stage of the rocket. The guidance controller computes the burn parameters of the second-stage engine based upon one or more desired orbit parameters and a current position and velocity of the rocket. The computation of the burn parameters is based upon a simulated point-mass model of the motion of the rocket. The guidance controller then controls the rocket to initiate a second-stage burn having the computed burn parameters.
Claims20
A spin-stabilized rocket comprising:
- a first-stage engine;
- a second-stage engine, wherein at least one of the first-stage engine or the second-stage engine fails to include thrust vector control;
- a hardware logic device configured to control operation of the first-stage engine and the second-stage engine, wherein the hardware logic device is configured to perform the following acts:
- subsequent to completion of a burn of the first-stage engine, computing an orientation of the spin-stabilized rocket for a burn of the second-stage engine and an ignition time of the burn of the second-stage engine based upon a desired orbit parameter, a current velocity of the rocket, and a current position of the rocket;
- and
- causing the second-stage engine to initiate the burn of the second-stage engine at the computed ignition time when the rocket has the computed orientation, wherein the burn of the second-stage engine is configured to cause the rocket to follow a path to an orbital trajectory.
A method for guidance of a spin-stabilized rocket, comprising:
- subsequent to completion of a burn of a first-stage engine of the spin-stabilized rocket, computing burn parameters for a burn of a second-stage engine of the spin-stabilized rocket based upon a desired orbit parameter, a current velocity of the rocket, and a current position of the spin-stabilized rocket, the burn parameters comprising an orientation of the spin-stabilized rocket during the burn of the second-stage engine and an ignition time of the burn of the second-stage engine;
- and
- controlling the second-stage engine to initiate the burn of the second-stage engine having the computed burn parameters, wherein the burn of the second-stage engine is configured to cause the rocket to follow a path to an orbital trajectory.
A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform the following acts:
- subsequent to completion of a burn of a first-stage engine of a spin-stabilized rocket, computing burn parameters for a burn of a second-stage engine of the spin-stabilized rocket based upon nominal orbit apsides, a nominal orbit inclination, a current velocity of the rocket, and a current position of the rocket, the burn parameters comprising an orientation of the spin-stabilized rocket during the burn of the second-stage engine and an ignition time of the burn of the second-stage engine;
- outputting a control signal to a reaction control system (RCS) of the spin-stabilized rocket to cause the RCS to position the spin-stabilized rocket to have the computed orientation;
- and
- outputting a control signal to the second-stage engine to cause the second-stage engine to initiate the burn of the second-stage engine at the computed ignition time.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.