Guidance of UAV EOLE for Launcher Separation Maneuver*

Within the PERSEUS frame of CNES (French National Space Centre), EOLE is a demonstrator for a reusable unmanned automatic carrier for airborne rocket launchers. EOLE will lift a rocket mockup from an airport up to 4000 m in altitude. A ground pilot takes off and lands EOLE manually via radio-controls within viewing distance. The guidance and autopilot system is then switched on for autonomous flight including final climb, cruise flight, launch and separation maneuver, return flight and initial descent. Different separation maneuvers can be specified with a separation at a flight path angle of about 45 degrees for an optimal launch of the rocket. This paper deals more particularly with the design of the guidance system for the separation trajectory. The synthesized closed loop guidance laws are validated using Monte-Carlo technique with perturbation causes taken into account.