Related papers: Design of Low-Thrust Gravity Assist Trajectories t…
In this paper a direct method based on a transcription by finite elements in time has been used to design optimal interplanetary trajectories, exploiting a combination of gravity assist maneuvers and low-thrust propulsion. A multiphase…
The commercial interest in producing low-cost space missions by exploiting the superior propellant management of low-thrust propulsion technology has become increasingly popular. Typical to such missions is the design of transfer…
The optimization of low-thrust, multi-revolution orbit transfer trajectories is often regarded as a difficult problem in modern astrodynamics. In this paper, a flexible and computationally efficient approach is presented for the…
Low-thrust orbital transfers are difficult to optimize by indirect methods. The main issues come from the costate guess and from the numerical propagation accuracy required by the shooting method. In the case of a coplanar minimum-time…
This paper proposes a systematic method for generating practical and robust low-thrust spacecraft trajectories. One contribution is to consider the change in mass of the spacecraft at two levels: a) the propulsive acceleration and b) the…
This paper presents a simple approach to low-thrust optimal-fuel and optimal-time transfer problems between two elliptic orbits using the Cartesian coordinates system. In this case, an orbit is described by its specific angular momentum and…
Trajectory optimization of low-thrust perturbed orbit rendezvous is a crucial technology for space missions in low Earth orbits, which is difficult to solve due to its initial value sensitivity, especially when the transfer trajectory has…
A deep-space exploration mission with low-thrust propulsion to rendezvous with multiple asteroids is investigated. Indirect methods, based on the optimal control theory, are implemented to optimize the fuel consumption. The application of…
This study proposes a new automated strategy for designing and optimizing three-dimensional interplanetary low-thrust (LT) trajectories. The method formulates the design as a hybrid optimal control problem and solves it using a two-step…
In this paper the preliminary design of multiple gravity-assist trajectories is formulated as a global optimization problem. An analysis of the structure of the solution space reveals a strong multimodality, which is strictly dependent on…
A numerical optimization study of minimum-fuel Earth-based orbital transfers from low-Earth orbit (LEO) to either medium-Earth orbit (MEO), high-Earth orbit (HEO), or geostationary orbit (GEO), is performed. Various values of maximum…
The preliminary mission design of spacecraft missions to asteroids often involves, in the early phases, the selection of candidate target asteroids. The final result of such an analysis is a list of asteroids, ranked with respect to the…
Long time-duration low-thrust nonlinear optimal spacecraft trajectory global search is a computationally and time expensive problem characterized by clustering patterns in locally optimal solutions. During preliminary mission design,…
This work aims to automate the design of Multiple Gravity-Assist (MGA) transfers between planets using low-thrust propulsion. In particular, during the preliminary design phase of space missions, the combinatorial complexity of MGA…
The growing interest in cislunar space exploration in recent years has driven an increasing demand for efficient low-thrust missions to key cislunar orbits. These missions, typically possessing long thrust arcs, are particularly susceptible…
Orbit insertion at Saturn requires a large impulsive manoeuver due to the velocity difference between the spacecraft and the planet. This paper presents a strategy to reduce dramatically the hyperbolic excess speed at Saturn by means of…
In this study, an interplanetary space flight mission design is established to obtain the minimum \(\Delta V\) required for a rendezvous and sample return mission from an asteroid. Given the initial (observed) conditions of an asteroid, a…
Gateway will represent a primary logistic infrastructure in cislunar space. The identification of efficient orbit transfers capable of connecting Earth, Moon, and Gateway paves the way for enabling refurbishment, servicing, and utilization…
Space missions that use low-thrust propulsion technology are becoming increasingly popular since they utilize propellant more efficiently and thus reduce mission costs. However, optimizing continuous-thrust trajectories is complex,…
Low-thrust trajectory design relies heavily on repeated evaluations of fuel consumption and transfer feasibility, which require expensive optimal control solutions. In this work, we show these quantities can be accurately approximated by…