Robustness Analysis for Terminal Phases of Reentry Flight

A novel approach to analyze the robustness of a Flight Control System (FCS) with respect to parametric uncertainties is presented, which specifically applies to gliding vehicles in the terminal phases of re-entry flight. Robustness analyses are particularly challenging for these systems. Their reference trajectories are appreciably time varying and encompass a broad variety of flight regimes. Furthermore, significant uncertainties on some critical design parameters affect the vehicle model, most notably those related to the aerodynamic behavior.