Calculate the ignition height of the vertical landing phase online for the reusable rocket

Abstract

For the vertical landing phase of the reusable rocket, in order to improve the landing accuracy with consideration of multiple uncertainties, a novel strategy to calculate the ignition height online is proposed based on polynomial guidance law (PGL), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and deep reinforcement learning (DRL). Firstly, a deep neural network (DNN) is designed to describe the relationship between the state of the reusable rocket and the ignition height. To accomplish the guidance task of the vertical landing phase, PGL is modified by introducing the estimated aerodynamic acceleration. Through simulation, the output range of the DNN is estimated by the modified PSO. Then, the reward function is shaped and the parameters of the DNN are trained on a training set of simulation scenarios by the DRL algorithm. Finally, to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy, the trained DNN is used to calculate the ignition height of 1500 unlearned simulation scenarios online. The numerical simulation results show that the proposed strategy has higher landing accuracy and lower fuel consumption than the offline strategy of fixed ignition height based on the modified PSO.