Summary: This paper presents solutions to the problem of optimal atmospheric turning of aeroassisted orbital transfer vehicles. The main purpose, however, is to demonstrate how much the required propulsive velocity change can be reduced by optimally combining aerodynamic and propulsive maneuvers during the orbital transfer.
Comparisons are given for purely propulsive maneuvers, maneuvers using aerodrag only (no lift), maneuvers with all plane change occuring in the atmosphere, and maneuvers combining atmospheric and propulsive impulses optimally to achieve minimum propulsive velocity change requirements. Results are presented for vehicles with a range of maximum lift-to-drag ratios and often show substantial gains for the optimal transfer as opposed to other methods of transfer.