A feasibility study on the recovery of Electron's first stage using a vertical landing approach

Master thesis (2022)

Authors

S.J. Hoefsloot Aerospace Engineering

Contributors

M.C. Naeije Astrodynamics & Space Missions - Aerospace Engineering (mentor)
Faculty
Aerospace Engineering, Aerospace Engineering
Copyright: © 2022 Stijn Hoefsloot
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Published Date

22-06-2022

Language

English

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Faculty

Aerospace Engineering

Abstract

The small satellite market is rapidly growing and becomes more competitive by the day. In order to reduce launch costs, the concept of reusable launch vehicles wins popularity. Only few companies have managed to successfully recover and re-use their launch vehicle, of which SpaceX is the only one using a powered descent technique. This study focuses on applying that same technique on a small satellite launcher: Rocket Labs Electron. A 3-DOF trajectory optimization is performed to find the fuel optimal ascent and descent trajectories of the Electron. The original design of the Electron is adhered to as much as possible. The optimization is performed for a variety of Single- and Multi objective optimizers and different settings. Although this is only a feasibility study in which many assumptions are made, the results look promising for further research to be done.

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