Print Email Facebook Twitter Aerocapture Guidance and Control at Venus Title Aerocapture Guidance and Control at Venus Author Brito Lima, Pedro (TU Delft Aerospace Engineering) Contributor Mooij, E. (mentor) Degree granting institution Delft University of Technology Programme Aerospace Engineering Date 2023-12-22 Abstract This thesis explores the feasibility of aerocapture manoeuvres at Venus, focusing on the challenges for an autonomous Guidance and Control (G&C) system, including a partial Navigation system simulation. Aerocapture leverages atmospheric drag for orbit insertion and presents a cost-effective alternative to traditional propulsive methods. The study, centred on Venus's dense atmosphere, involves sensitivity and Monte Carlo analyses to assess spacecraft responsiveness and factor importance. Key findings indicate mission success hinges on precise atmospheric entry delivery, with little impact from navigation errors. A notable 0.6% total mission failure rate was primarily due to adverse entry conditions. The current guidance architecture, while largely successful, showed limitations, particularly in control saturation. The research highlights the need for high fidelity aerodynamic data and a broader range of entry conditions for future studies. Emphasis on refining guidance strategies and integrating a complete navigation system for validating its minimal impact is recommended for subsequent research. Subject aerocaptureguidancecontrolnavigationcapsulenpcnumericalpredictorcorrectorlqrre-entryentryvenusattitude To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a5c77f80-6608-4af2-8e80-a54752c17f38 Part of collection Student theses Document type master thesis Rights © 2023 Pedro Brito Lima Files PDF MT_PedroLima.pdf 11.88 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:a5c77f80-6608-4af2-8e80-a54752c17f38/datastream/OBJ/view