Particle Swarm Optimization Applied to Ascent Phase Launch Vehicle Trajectory Optimization Problem

The ascent phase trajectory optimization of a single stage liquid propellant hypersonic launch vehicle is considered in this paper. Trajectory optimization is done to achieve desired terminal conditions using angle of attack as a control variable. The formulation entails nonlinear 2-dimensional launch vehicle flight dynamics with mixed boundary conditions and multi-constraints. The burning time of the liquid rocket engine is fixed, leading to fixed time problem. By studying the behavior of the problem with boundary constraints, the non-linear problem is solved using the PSO method and the optimal trajectory is obtained. The effect of two types of dynamic inertia weight and constant inertia weight in PSO algorithm is examined. The influence of controlling parameters is also investigated.