Related papers: Low-Energy Round-Trip Trajectories to Near-Earth O…
We have conducted a detailed simulation of LSST's ability to link near-Earth and main belt asteroid detections into orbits. The key elements of the study were a high-fidelity detection model and the presence of false detections in the form…
By fully exploiting the mobility of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), UAV-based aerial base stations (BSs) can move closer to ground users to achieve better communication conditions. In this paper, we consider a scenario where an aerial BS…
Equipping a spacecraft with multiple solar-powered electric engines (of the same or different types) compounds the task of optimal trajectory design due to presence of both real-valued inputs (power input to each engine in addition to the…
Designing robust space trajectories in nonlinear dynamical environments, such as the Earth-Moon circular restricted three-body problem (CR3BP), poses significant challenges due to sensitivity to initial conditions and non-Gaussian…
As low-thrust space missions increase in prevalence, it is becoming increasingly important to design robust trajectories against unforeseen thruster outages or missed thrust events. Accounting for such events is particularly important in…
A small variation of the circular shape of the hodograph theorem states that for every elliptical solution of the two-body problem, it is possible to find an appropriate inertial frame such that the speed of the bodies is constant. We use…
In recent years, stable and unstable manifolds of invariant objects (such as libration points and periodic orbits) have been increasingly recognized as an efficient tool for designing transfer trajectories in space missions. However, most…
Pluto and Charon are a dwarf binary system with a high mass ratio $\mu$, preventing Trojan companions. This instability creates ideal intersections for low-energy pathways that spacecraft can traverse and serves as an important test case…
We present a computational approach for the design of continuous low thrust transfers around an asteroid. These transfers are computed through the use of a reachability set generated on a lower dimensional Poincar\'e surface. Complex, long…
The use of electric low-thrust propulsion systems for orbit maneuvers is becoming a popular choice among satellite manufacturers due to their inherent merits over their chemical counterparts. Many designers choose to incorporate multiple of…
A bi-level optimal control framework is introduced to solve the low-thrust re-phasing problem on quasi-periodic invariant tori in multi-body environments where deviations away from the torus during maneuver are considered unsafe or…
Missions to near-Earth objects (NEOs) are key destinations in NASA's new "Flexible Path" approach. NEOs are also of interest for science, for the hazards they pose, and for their resources. We emphasize the importance of ultra-low delta-v…
We demonstrate the remarkable effectiveness of boundary value formulations coupled to numerical continuation for the computation of stable and unstable manifolds in systems of ordinary differential equations. Specifically, we consider the…
In this paper, the L1-minimization for the translational motion of a spacecraft in a circular restricted three-body problem (CRTBP) is considered. Necessary con- ditions are derived by using the Pontryagin Maximum Principle, revealing the…
In this paper, we consider the classical spacecraft rendezvous problem in which the so-called active spacecraft has to approach the target spacecraft which is moving in an elliptical orbit around a planet by using the minimum possible…
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…
Spacecraft trajectory design is a global search problem, where previous work has revealed specific solution structures that can be captured with data-driven methods. This paper explores two global search problems in the circular restricted…
The rapid expansion of mega-constellations in low Earth orbits has posed significant challenges to space traffic management, necessitating periodic inspections of satellites to ensure the sustainability of the space environment when…
When the planar circular restricted 3-body problem (PCRTBP) is periodically perturbed, as occurs in many useful astrodynamics models, most unstable periodic orbits persist as whiskered tori. Intersections between stable and unstable…
This work presents a new method for generating impulsive trajectories in restricted two-body systems by leveraging Riemannian geometry. The proposed method transforms the standard trajectory optimization problem into a purely geometric one…