Design of a Guidance System for an Airlaunch Rocket Using Iterative Guidance Mode

The use of satellites in small sizes has increased in the last decades thanks to improvements in electronics and materials technology. However, the problem arises from their smaller size is the way of launching them into the operating orbit. Thus, dedicated vehicles launched in the air are now of great interest. In this paper, Iterative Guidance Mode (IGM) is applied to a hypothetical air launch rocket which can be used to insert a micro satellite into a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) orbit. The results are compared with the optimal trajectories obtained. Unlike traditional launchers, these types of vehicles can be launched from different initial conditions and the target might be different for each use. In this paper, the guidance algorithm is applied to an airlaunch rocket and its performance tested considering the specifications.