Low-thrust trajectories about planetary bodies characteristically span a high count of orbital revolutions. Directing the thrust vector over many revolutions presents a challenging optimization problem for any conventional strategy. This paper demonstrates the tractability of low-thrust trajectory optimization about planetary bodies by applying a Sundman transformation to change the independent variable of the spacecraft equations of motion to the eccentric anomaly and performing the optimization with differential dynamic programming. Fuel-optimal geocentric transfers are shown in excess of 1000 revolutions while subject to Earths J2 perturbation and lunar gravity.
Low-Thrust Many-Revolution Trajectory Optimization via Differential Dynamic Programming and a Sundman Transformation
AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Meeting ; 2017 ; San Antonio, TX, United States
2017-02-05
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English