Related papers: How Many Impulses Redux
The minimum-fuel low-thrust transfer between circular orbits is formulated using the Edelbaum's averaged dynamics with the addition of the nodal precession due to the first zonal term. The extremal analysis shows that an optimal transfer is…
Optimization of low-thrust trajectories that involve a larger number of orbit revolutions is considered a challenging problem. This paper describes a high-precision symplectic method and optimization techniques to solve the minimum-energy…
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…
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…
Designing optimal trajectories for multi-flyby asteroid missions is scientifically critical but technically challenging due to nonlinear dynamics, intermediate constraints, and numerous local optima. This paper establishes a method that…
We present a purely algebraic formulation (i.e. polynomial equations only) of the minimum-cost multi-impulse orbit transfer problem without time constraints, while keeping all the variables with a precise physical meaning. We apply general…
The minimum-fuel orbital transfer is analyzed in the case of a launcher upper stage using a constantly thrusting engine. The thrust level is assumed to be constant and its value is optimized together with the thrust direction. A closed-loop…
This study addresses optimal impulsive trajectory design within the Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem (CR3BP), presenting a global optimization-based approach to identify minimum $\Delta V$ transfers between periodic orbits, including…
This work focuses on minimum-time low-thrust orbit transfers from a prescribed low Earth orbit to a specified low lunar orbit. The well-established indirect formulation of minimum-time orbit transfers is extended to a multibody dynamical…
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…
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…
A novel fast multi-impulse optimization method for long-duration perturbed orbit rendezvous is proposed. First, based on the analytically estimated impulses, the terminal rendezvous deviation with precise dynamics model can be predicted.…
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…
The problem of finding the optimal thrust profile of a launcher upper stage is analyzed. The engine is assumed to be continuously thrusting, following either a linear or a bilevel parametric profile, until reaching the targeted coplanar…
This paper proposes a solution for multiple-impulse orbital maneuvers near circular orbits for special cases where orbital observations are not globally available and the spacecraft is being observed through a limited window from a ground…
In the first part of this paper, inspired by the geometric method of Jean-Pierre Marec, we consider the two-impulse Hohmann transfer problem between two coplanar circular orbits as a constrained nonlinear programming problem. By using the…
This paper presents a novel approach for the preliminary design of Low-Thrust, many-revolution transfers. The main feature of the novel approach is a considerable reduction in the control parameters and a consequent gain in computational…
In this paper, Particle Swarm Optimization with energy-to-fuel continuation is proposed for initializing the co-state variables for low-thrust minimum-fuel trajectory optimization problems in the circular restricted three-body problem.…
One of the fundamental problems in spacecraft trajectory design is finding the optimal transfer trajectory that minimizes the propellant consumption and transfer time simultaneously. We formulate this as a multi-objective optimal control…
The problem of minimizing the transfer time between periodic orbits in the Earth-Moon elliptic restricted three-body problem using a multi-mode propulsion system is considered. By employing the true anomaly on the primary orbit as the…