Related papers: Multiple-arc optimization of low-thrust earth-moon…
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…
Efficient performance of a number of engineering systems is achieved through different modes of operation - yielding systems described as "hybrid", containing both real-valued and discrete decision variables. Prominent examples of such…
Low-thrust trajectories play a crucial role in optimizing scientific output and cost efficiency in asteroid belt missions. Unlike high-thrust transfers, low-thrust trajectories require solving complex optimal control problems. This…
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…
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…
The SecularMultiple code, presented in two previous papers of this series, integrates the long-term dynamical evolution of multiple systems with any number of bodies and hierarchical structure, provided that the system is composed of nested…
This work focuses on the development of a self adjusting multirate strategy based on an implicit time discretization for the numerical solution of hyperbolic equations, that could benefit from different time steps in different areas of the…
A central problem in orbit transfer optimization is to determine the number, time, direction and magnitude of velocity impulses that minimize the total impulse. This problem was posed in 1967 by T. N. Edelbaum, and while notable advances…
Low-thrust electric propulsion missions are often designed under simplifying assumptions such as constant thrust or fixed specific impulse, neglecting the strong coupling between trajectory dynamics, spacecraft power availability, and…
We study the multi-objective minimum weight base problem, an abstraction of classical NP-hard combinatorial problems such as the multi-objective minimum spanning tree problem. We prove some important properties of the convex hull of the…
Reachability analysis plays a central role in low-thrust spacecraft trajectory optimization by identifying which target states can be achieved under constraints on time, thrust, and propellant. Classical approaches construct reachable sets…
This paper explores how to adapt a new dynamical core to enable its use in one-way nested regional weather and climate models, where lateral boundary conditions (LBCs) are provided by a lower-resolution driving model. The dynamical core has…
Multi-rendezvous spacecraft trajectory optimization problems are notoriously difficult to solve. For this reason, the design space is usually pruned by using heuristics and past experience. As an alternative, the current research explores…
Active debris removal (ADR) missions have garnered significant interest as means of mitigating collision risks in space. This work proposes a convex optimization-based model predictive control (MPC) approach to provide guidance for such…
Preliminary mission design requires an efficient and accurate approximation to the low-thrust rendezvous trajectories, which might be generally three-dimensional and involve multiple revolutions. In this paper, a new shaping method using…
Imaging a star's companion at multiple epochs over a short orbital arc provides only four of the six coordinates required for a unique orbital solution. Probability distributions of possible solutions are commonly generated by Monte Carlo…
Homotopy methods have been widely utilized to solve low-thrust orbital transfer problems, however, it is not guaranteed that the optimal solution can be obtained by the existing homotopy methods. In this paper, a new homotopy method is…
This paper aims at introducing the formal foundations of the application of reduced density-matrix theory and Green's function theory to the analysis of molecular electronic transitions. For this sake, their mechanics, applied to specific…
This study applies a new approach, the Theory of Functional Connections (TFC), to solve the two-point boundary-value problem (TPBVP) in non-Keplerian orbit transfer. The perturbations considered are drag, solar radiation pressure,…
We compare three approaches to posing the index 3 set of differential algebraic equations (DAEs) associated with the constrained multibody dynamics problem formulated in absolute coordinates. The first approach works directly with the…