Fault-Tolerant Control Allocation Development for Clustered-Engine Reusable Launch Vehicles

Master Thesis (2026)
Author(s)

G. Saavedra Lareia Matos Dos Santos (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)

Contributor(s)

X. Wang – Mentor (TU Delft - Group Wang)

E. Mooij – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Astrodynamics & Space Missions)

E. van Kampen – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Control & Simulation)

S. Fari – Mentor (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR))

Marco Sagliano – Mentor (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR))

More Info
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Publication Year
2026
Language
English
Graduation Date
23-01-2026
Awarding Institution
Programme
Aerospace Engineering
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Abstract

Launch vehicles' reusability has been regaining a lot of interest in recent years. Therefore, to continue the development of these types of vehicles, it is important that they are as reliable as possible, even in the case of faults, to achieve their objective of consistent reusability.


Current literature does not offer a detailed analysis of the influence of different faults or an analysis of these allocation algorithms for reusable rockets in a crucial scenario of these rockets, such as the descent phase. Hence, this thesis focuses on the development and investigation of the advantages of a fault-tolerant control allocation solution for propulsion system faults, to be applied in the powered descent and landing phase of a clustered-engine reusable launch vehicle. Furthermore, the different types of faults and fault characteristics are analysed to understand their impact on a mission of this sort.

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