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Gravity-Assist Low-Thrust Inter-System Trajectory Design with Manifold Captures

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Abstract

When traveling across multiple planetary or moon systems, invariant manifold structures may be leveraged to allow for efficient transfer within multi-body dynamics. However, the sole use of these structures is restrictive in many cases, as the manifold may not reach a desired departure or arrival location in the phase space. In particular, the use of low-thrust propulsion together with manifold dynamics requires an optimization framework that captures these mechanisms into a single problem. This work proposes an approach to design gravity-assist low-thrust transfers that leverage manifold structures at departure or arrival. The approach involves a modification to the Sims-Flanagan transcription by incorporating parametrization of arrival to a manifold Poincaré section instead of a celestial body. A key advantage is its use of two-body dynamics for the propagation of the majority of the transfer. This enables large-scale and realistic assessment of possible solutions through a combination of ODE-based propagation of the manifold, and Lagrange coefficients-based propagation of the inter-system portion of the transfer. Leveraging the proposed method, a low-thrust transfer from Earth to the Sun-Venus system, also incorporating an Earth fly-by in between, is studied.

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  1. School of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA

    Yuri Shimane & Koki Ho

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  1. Yuri Shimane
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  2. Koki Ho
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Correspondence to Koki Ho.

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Appendix: Algorithm for Low-Thrust Approximation Via Successive Impulses in Two-Body System

Appendix: Algorithm for Low-Thrust Approximation Via Successive Impulses in Two-Body System

Algorithm 3 is used for propagating the state-vector in the inter-system portion.

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Shimane, Y., Ho, K. Gravity-Assist Low-Thrust Inter-System Trajectory Design with Manifold Captures. J Astronaut Sci 69, 193–217 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40295-022-00319-x

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