Determination of guidance boundaries for terminal area energy management system of tran-atmospheric vehicle

During the terminal atmospheric flight phase, the tran-atmospheric vehicle is an unpowered glide vehicle. The terminal area energy management (TAEM) system uses energy-vs-range profile to guide the vehicle and control the energy dissipation, so, the determination of the energy-vs-range profile is one of the basic problems of TAEM system. This paper introduces the following: (a) the functional requirements of TAEM system; (b) the analysis of elements that affect energy dissipation rate with glide range; and (c) then the means of controlling the energy dissipation rate with respect to range. Based on these, the calculation method and simulation results for guidance boundaries are given.