Design and optimization of hypersonic skip-glide trajectory

Aiming at the defects of low ability of penetration and high cost of ballistic missiles, a hypersonic skip-glide trajectory was introduced. Based on a certain ballistic missile, a skip-glide trajectory across the atmosphere was designed with a high lift drag ratio figuration and final-stage motors which can be ignited several times, and the trajectory was optimized to maximize the range. The results show that effective range extension and high ability of penetration can be achieved. And also the aerodynamic heating will be reduced when the skip is large, the range can be further extended, and skip magnitude and peak heat flow can be reduced, while heating time and total aerodynamic heating is increased after optimization.