HYBRID NEAR-OPTIMAL ATMOSPHERIC GUIDANCE FOR AEROASSISTED ORBIT TRANSFER

In this paper, a hybrid methodology is applied to the problem of deter mining a near-optimal control which approximately minimizes energy los s for a class of aeroassisted orbit transfer maneuvers. The result is an approximate solution incorporating aspects of both an analytical ze ro-order solution from regular perturbation and a numerical solution f rom collocation, This approach is used to compute both open-loop and c losed-loop near-optimal controls for a particular vehicle. Results fro m several approximations are quantitatively compared with an exact opt imal solution.