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Juan Marí, Héctor (author)CubeSat missions have been deployed to cislunar space and beyond, paving the way for the next significant advancement: a dedicated CubeSat mission to explore a planet near Earth. To contribute to this goal, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has developed radiation-hardened small satellite technologies, including communications, power and onboard...master thesis 2023
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Ibañez Jimenez, Isabel (author)This thesis aims to calculate optimal trajectories from a user-defined Earth-bounded orbit to a user-defined Moon-bounded orbit using a bi-impulse direct transfer ultimately under the influence of a full dynamical model with perturbations, hence reflecting the actual physical environment.<br/><br/>Two tools are developed to achieve this goal....master thesis 2023
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Riti, Cristina (author)Insertion maneuvers are used to move a spacecraft from an open orbit (parabolic or hyperbolic) into a closed orbit around a target body. These maneuvers are key components in any space mission considering orbiting a body for a large amount of time, for exploration or landing; the hyperbolic orbit will be the one that will be used to transfer...master thesis 2023
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Sinha, Ishita (author)Recent launches of satellite constellations in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) region have increased the collision probability of existing debris objects with active satellites. Monitoring the trajectories of these debris objects is crucial for Space Situational Awareness (SSA) to prevent the creation of more debris due to unwanted collisions. Much...master thesis 2023
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Haagh, Luc (author)The first mission proposals to visit the Alpha Centauri system use photon-sail acceleration as a mode of propulsion to reach this stellar system closest to our own Solar System. To prepare for a future mission, the photon-sail dynamics in the system is investigated. Planar Lyapunov orbits around the colinear classical Lagrange points are...master thesis 2023
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Fernández Martín, Enrique (author)Temporarily Captured Orbiters (TCOs) - also known as Earth’s mini-moons – are meter-size asteroid fragments temporarily trapped in the Earth-Moon system. TCOs are challenging to identify due to their small size and high speed. While only two TCOs have been confirmed so far, studies suggest a constant presence of at least one TCO at any given...master thesis 2023
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Capus, Luana (author)Space debris has become a rising problem in the aerospace community, leading to the need for effective spacecraft collision avoidance processes. Currently, these processes can be called unilateral as only one object in conjunction is considered maneuverable. This thesis focuses on the implementation of a combined action approach to collision...master thesis 2023
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Garcia de Quevedo Suero, Beatriz (author)Apophis, an Aten-type asteroid, was considered a significant threat to Earth upon its discovery due to its potential impact with Earth in 2029. Although the collision has now been ruled out, Apophis will still perform an exceptionally close flyby of Earth that same year at a distance of 32,000 km from the surface. This event presents a unique...master thesis 2023
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Cowan, Sean (author)While the space industry expands rapidly and space exploration becomes ever more relevant, this thesis aims to automate the design of Multiple Gravity-Assist (MGA) transfers using low-thrust propulsion. In particular, during the preliminary design phase of space missions, the combinatorial complexity of MGA sequencing is large and current...master thesis 2023
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Viero, Edoardo (author)The current project investigated the feasibility of aerocapture at Jupiter, and the benefits in terms of payload mass fraction that could be achieved compared to traditional orbital insertion burns. A numerical simulation model has been set up, as well as an analytical formulation of the problem. The numerical verification of the analytical...master thesis 2023
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Carceller Suarez, Patricia (author)Space debris fragments smaller than 10 cm cannot be tracked from Earth and are generally neglected in conjunction and risk analyses because of this. However, these fragments pose a great threat, as they can lead to collisions. Currently, the threat that space debris poses on the space environment is getting larger, so methods to mitigate said...master thesis 2023
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De hulsters, Kevin (author)The Kuiper belt is one of the last mostly unexplored regions in the Solar System. Exploration of the Kuiper belt can greatly increase humanity's understanding of the Solar System's formation and evolution. The use of low-thrust propulsion for Kuiper belt missions has the potential to improve the payload mass of the mission due to the high...master thesis 2023
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Stasevičius, Simonas (author)Central configurations provide the only closed-form analytical solutions of the n-body problem. All possible central configurations of three bodies have been extensively studied along with the stability of the associated periodic orbits. Stable cases have been found for the Lagrangian triangle configuration, which we see occurring with the...master thesis 2022
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Achterberg, Jari (author)The number of objects in space is increasing over time, and therefore it is desired to find more efficient propagation models in terms of accuracy and computational speed. This thesis project focuses on the propagation of the state and uncertainties of Potential Hazardous Asteroids, to predict potential Earth impacts. A machine learning...master thesis 2022
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Almeida Pignatelli de Avillez, Miguel (author)Quasi-satellite orbits (QSOs) are orbits around the smaller primary in three-body systems. The MMX mission (developed by JAXA, to be launched in 2024) will use QSOs to orbit Phobos, before landing on its surface. This work studies the feasibility of using the invariant manifolds of three-dimensional QSOs for designing landing trajectories, using...master thesis 2022
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Stahl, Dominik (author)Distant Retrograde Orbits (DROs) are special orbits for third bodies in two-body systems. The third body revolves around the secondary – the smaller of the two primaries – in a retrograde way, meaning the direction is opposite to the direction that the primaries revolve around each other. DROs are not close to either of the primaries, making it...master thesis 2022
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Klavers, Robert (author)With the increase in the use of Solar Electric Propulsion for Earth-centered applications, comes an additional challenge in the field of low-thrust spacecraft trajectory optimization. This MSc project implements a hybrid optimization approach, using control parametrization to reduce the number of optimization parameters and orbital averaging to...master thesis 2021
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Torrente, Paul (author)This thesis focused on the relevance and feasibility of an uncontrolled cubesat mission in a binary asteroid environment, highlighting the example of the representative Near-Earth Asteroid 1999 KW4, modelled using the TU Delft Astrodynamics Tool (TUDAT). A clear distinction was made between orbits of the cubesat starting in the interior and the...master thesis 2021
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Paricio Ezquerra, Daniel (author)Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) have attracted the attention of the scientific community in the last few years. Not only because of their importance to life on Earth but also their scientific potential and possible economic returns. This work explores the use of quasi-periodic orbits to bound the motion of NEAs close to the Earth’s vicinity for...master thesis 2021
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Turnock, Matthew (author)With current technology, it has been found that the feasibility of long-term adaptable exploration missions at the far reaches of the Solar System and beyond is limited, due to shortcomings in conventional propulsion systems. Electrodynamic tether (EDT) propulsion methods may provide a viable alternative, utilising either the interplanetary...master thesis 2021