Related papers: Extensive Database of Spatial Ballistic Captures w…
The current lunar exploration, particularly the regular large-scale cargo transportation in the Earth-Moon system proposes requirements for amount of low-energy lunar transfers. The conventional grid-search method to construct low-energy…
The design of transfers to periodic orbits in the Earth-Moon system has regained prominence with NASA's Artemis and CNSA's Chang'e programs. This work addresses the problem of linking ballistic capture trajectories - exploiting multi-body…
This paper presents a navigation strategy to fly to the Moon along a Weak Stability Boundary transfer trajectory. A particular strategy is devised to ensure capture into an uncontrolled relatively stable orbit at the Moon. Both uncertainty…
Given the interest in future space missions devoted to the exploration of key moons in the solar system and that may involve libration point orbits, an efficient design strategy for transfers between moons is introduced that leverages the…
There exist cislunar and trans-lunar libration points near the Moon, which are referred as the LL1 and LL2 points respectively and can generate the different types of low-energy trajectories transferring from Earth to Moon. The…
The proposal of increasingly complex and innovative space endeavours poses growing demands for mission designers. In order to meet the established requirements and constraints while maintaining a low fuel cost, the use of low-energy…
Low-energy transfers are advantageous for lunar exploration missions due to low fuel consumption and extended launch periods. This paper is devoted to the classification of interior transit orbits and their application on low-energy…
This contribution focuses on the design of low-energy transfers between planetary moons and presents an efficient technique to compute trajectories characterized by desirable behaviors in the vicinities of the departure and destination…
The detection and tracking of celestial surface terrain features are crucial for autonomous spaceflight applications, including Terrain Relative Navigation (TRN), Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL), hazard analysis, and scientific data…
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 paper presents the real-time retargeting guidance policy developed for the Chandrayaan-3 lunar landing mission. The baseline guidance generates approximate fuel-optimal descent trajectories, while a high-level policy enables safe…
Typical lunar landing missions involve multiple phases of braking to achieve soft-landing. The propulsion system configuration for these missions consists of throttleable engines. This configuration involves complex interconnected…
Low-thrust, many-revolution transfers between near-rectilinear halo orbits and low lunar orbits are challenging due to the many-revolutions and is further complicated by three-body perturbation. To address these challenges, we extend hybrid…
An efficient characterization of scientifically significant locations is essential prior to the return of humans to the Moon. The highest resolution imagery acquired from orbit of south-polar shadowed regions and other relevant locations…
The space sector is experiencing a flourishing growth and evidence is mounting that the near future will be characterized by a large amount of deep-space missions. In the last decade, CubeSats have granted affordable access to space due to…
The rapid growth of cislunar activities, including lunar landings, the Lunar Gateway, and in-space refueling stations, requires advances in cost-efficient trajectory design and reliable integration of navigation and remote sensing.…
For deep-space mission design, the gravity of the Sun and the Moon can be first considered and utilized. Their gravity can provide the energy change for launching spacecraft and retrieving spacecraft as well as asteroids. Regarding an…
In the Earth-Moon system, low-energy orbits are transfer trajectories from the earth to a circumlunar orbit that require less propellant consumption when compared to the traditional methods. In this work we use a Monte Carlo approach to…
The Gateway will represent a primary space system useful for the Artemis program, Earth-Moon transportation, and deep space exploration. It is expected to serve as a staging location on the way to the lunar surface. This study focuses on…
For unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) trajectory design, the total propulsion energy consumption and initial-final location constraints are practical factors to consider. However, unlike traditional offline designs, these two constraints are…