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An hybrid approach to the design of the attitude control system for a launch vehicle (LV) in the atmospheric flight phase is proposed in this paper, where a structured H ∞ controller is tuned using a genetic algorithm (GA). The H ∞ synthesis relies on a classical architecture for the thrust vector control (TVC) system that features proportional-derivative loops and bending filters. Once a set of requirements on stability and robustness typical of industrial practice is specified, control design is carried out by parameterizing the H ∞ weighting functions, and solving a two-layer max-min global optimization problem for the tuning parameters. The design methodology is applied to the model of a medium-size LV. The novel design is analyzed in off-nominal conditions taking into consideration model parameter scattering and wind disturbances. The results show that the automated design procedure provided by GA allows to devise timescheduled controllers providing adequate stability and performance, and appears as a viable and effective solution for reducing the burden of recurrent activities for controller tuning and validation conducted prior to each launch.

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