Thermal Protection System and Trajectory Optimization for Orbital Plane Change Aeroassisted Maneuver

ABSTRACT: The aim of this paper was to identify, for a specific maneuver, the optimal combination between the trajectory and the associated heat shield configuration, namely the locations and thicknesses of the ablative and reusable zones, that maximize the allowable payload mass for a spacecraft. The analysis is conducted by considering the coupling between the trajectory's dynamics and the heat shield's thermal behavior while using a highly representative model of the heat shield. A global optimization procedure and original software were developed and implemented. The analyzed mission consi...