Three-Degree-of-Freedom Trajectory Simulator for Axisymmetric Space Vehicles

Abstract

This work presents a flight simulator with 3 degrees of freedom as the first stage of development of a future simulator with 6 degrees of freedom, to be used within the framework project of the Aerospace Technology Group (GTA, Spanish acronym): “Design and optimization of a University Orbital Launcher for Cubesat satellites”. The language chosen for its implementation is Matlab® and applies to vehicles with time-varying mass and propulsive properties, moving both in atmospheric flight and in orbital trajectories. The elliptical Earth model based on the WGS 84 reference ellipsoid is used, taking as inertial reference frame a geocentric system aligned with the ecliptic plane, with the x-axis in the direction of the vernal point (J2000 system).