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Optimal solar sail transfers to circular Earth-synchronous displaced orbits

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A Correction to this article was published on 11 February 2022

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Abstract

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the minimum flight time of a solar sail-based spacecraft towards Earth-synchronous (heliocentric) circular displaced orbits. These are special displaced non-Keplerian orbits characterized by a period of one year, which makes them suitable for the observation of Earth’s polar regions. The solar sail is modeled as a flat and purely reflective film with medium-low performance, that is, with a characteristic acceleration less than one millimeter per second squared. Starting from a circular parking orbit of radius equal to one astronomical unit, the optimal steering law is sought by considering the characteristic acceleration that is required for the maintenance of the target Earth-synchronous displaced orbit. The indirect approach used for the calculation of the optimal transfer trajectory allows the minimum flight time to be correlated with several Earth-synchronous displaced orbits, each one being characterized by given values of Earth- spacecraft distance and displacement over the ecliptic. The proposed mathematical model is validated by comparison with results available in the literature, in which a piecewise-constant steering law is used to find the optimal flight time for a transfer towards a one-year Type I non-Keplerian orbit.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the University of Pisa, Progetti di Ricerca di Ateneo (Grant No. PRA_2018_44).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, University of Pisa, Pisa, I-56122, Italy

    Alessandro A. Quarta, Giovanni Mengali & Marco Bassetto

Authors
  1. Alessandro A. Quarta
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  2. Giovanni Mengali
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  3. Marco Bassetto
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alessandro A. Quarta.

Additional information

Alessandro A. Quarta received his Ph.D. degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Pisa in 2005, and is currently a professor of flight mechanics at the Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering of the University of Pisa. His main research areas include spaceflight simulation, spacecraft mission analysis and design, low-thrust trajectory optimization, solar sail and E-sail dynamics and control.

Giovanni Mengali received his doctor degree in aeronautical engineering in 1989 from the University of Pisa. Since 1990, he has been with the Department of Aerospace Engineering (now Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering) of the University of Pisa, first as a Ph.D. student, then as an assistant and an associate professor. Currently, he is a professor of space flight mechanics. His main research areas include spacecraft mission analysis, trajectory optimization, solar sails, electric sails and aircraft flight dynamics and control.

Marco Bassetto graduated in aerospace engineering in 2016. Since 2016, he is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering of the University of Pisa. His research activities mainly focus on mission design and trajectory analysis of spacecraft propelled with low-thrust propulsion systems, such as solar sails and electric solar wind sails.

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Quarta, A.A., Mengali, G. & Bassetto, M. Optimal solar sail transfers to circular Earth-synchronous displaced orbits. Astrodyn 4, 193–204 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42064-019-0057-x

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