Sun, XinChai, SenchunChai, RunqiZhang, BaihaiFelicetti, LeonardTsourdos, Antonios2024-05-132024-05-132024-04-18Sun X, Chai S, Chai R, et al., (2024) Convex-concave optimization for a launch vehicle ascent trajectory with chance constraints. Journal of the Franklin Institute, Volume 361, Issue 8, May 2024, Article number 1068490016-0032https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfranklin.2024.106849https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/21596The objective of this paper is to present a convex–concave optimization approach for solving the problem of a multistage launch vehicle ascent trajectory. The proposed method combines convex–concave decomposition and successive linearization techniques to generate a new sequence of convex subproblems to replace the original non-convex problem. Bernstein approximation is used to transform the chance constraints into convex ones. A hp-adaptive pseudospectral scheme is employed to discretize the optimal control problem into a nonlinear programming problem with less computation cost. The performance of the proposed strategy is compared against other typical techniques in a selection of test case scenarios. Numerical results demonstrate the viability of the method and show pros and cons of the proposed technique.en-UKAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Trajectory OptimizationConvex-concave DecompositionChance ConstraintsArticle1879-2693