Related papers: Nonlinear Programming of Low-Thrust Multi-Rendezvo…
Conjunction analysis and maneuver planning for spacecraft collision avoidance remains a manual and time-consuming process, typically involving repeated forward simulations of hand-designed maneuvers. With the growing density of satellites…
Agile attitude maneuvering maximizes the utility of remote sensing satellite constellations. By taking into account a satellite's physical properties and its actuator specifications, we may leverage the full performance potential of the…
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 address the challenge of real-time planning of minimum-time trajectories over multiple waypoints, onboard multirotor UAVs. Previous works demonstrated that achieving a truly time-optimal trajectory is computationally too demanding to…
Preliminary low-thrust spacecraft mission design is a global search problem characterized by a complex solution landscape, multiple objectives, and numerous local minima. During this phase, mission parameters are often not yet fully…
The optimal design of multi-target rendezvous and flyby missions is challenging due to the combination of traditional spacecraft trajectory optimization and high-dimensional combinatorial problems. This often requires large-scale global…
A method is presented to solve a stochastic, nonlinear optimal control problem representative of spacecraft trajectory design under uncertainty. The problem is reformulated as a chance constrained nonlinear program, or what is known as a…
If an orbit is fitted from combined RV and astrometric data, the orbit should be physically consistent with both data sets. The Keplerian orbit of a planet is a highly nonlinear function of seven parameters. The astrometric orbit problem…
We introduce a new algorithm to solve constrained nonlinear optimal control problem, with an emphasis on low-thrust trajectory in highly nonlinear dynamics. The algorithm, dubbed Pontryagin-Bellman Differential Dynamic Programming (PDDP),…
Designing robust trajectories under uncertainties is an emerging technology that may represent a key paradigm shift in space mission design. As we pursue more ambitious scientific goals (e.g., multi-moon tours, missions with extensive…
This paper addresses the challenge of accommodating nonlinear dynamics and constraints in rapid trajectory optimization, envisioned for use in the context of onboard guidance. We present a novel framework that uniquely employs…
Designing spacecraft trajectories remains challenging in the presence of stochastic effects such as maneuver execution errors and observation uncertainties. Although covariance control and belief-space planning provide useful tools for…
This paper presents a comparative study of the applicability and accuracy of optimal control methods and neural network-based estimators in the context of porkchop plots for preliminary asteroid rendezvous mission design. The scenario…
In this paper, we develop a computationally-efficient approach to minimum-time trajectory optimization using input-output data-based models, to produce an end-to-end data-to-control solution to time-optimal planning/control of dynamic…
Spacecraft operations are influenced by uncertainties such as dynamics modeling, navigation, and maneuver execution errors. Although mission design has traditionally incorporated heuristic safety margins to mitigate the effect of…
This paper shows how to find lower bounds on, and sometimes solve globally, a large class of nonlinear optimal control problems with impulsive controls using semi-definite programming (SDP). This is done by relaxing an optimal control…
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…
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…
Nonlinear least-squares problems are a special class of unconstrained optimization problems in which their gradient and Hessian have special structures. In this paper, we exploit these structures and proposed a matrix-free algorithm with a…
Preliminary mission design of low-thrust spacecraft trajectories in the Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem is a global search characterized by a complex objective landscape and numerous local minima. Formulating the problem as sampling…