Transfer strategies to the L3 libration point of the Sun-Earth system

Master thesis (2009)

Authors

Contributors

R. Noomen (mentor)
B.A.C. Ambrosius (mentor)
Department
SpE/ AS (Aerospace Engineering) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2009 Tantardini, M.T.
Trajectory design
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Published Date

20-11-2009

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Faculty

Aerospace Engineering

Department

SpE/ AS

Abstract

In this contribution, we investigate several trajectory design methods to transfer a spacecraft to the L3 point of the Sun-Earth Circular Restricted 3-Body Problem (CR3BP). Such a study aims at performing an investigation into an area that is so far little explored: the vicinity of L3 has never been the destination of a space mission, and in literature there is a big gap about transfers to the Sun-Earth L3 libration point. We consider several strategies and design methods: various types of two-burn impulsive trajectories in a Sun-spacecraft two-body model, a low-thrust transfer, an approach based on travelling on invariant manifolds of periodic orbits in the Sun-Earth CR3BP, and finally a patched conics strategy exploiting the gravity assist of the nearby planets. We discuss advantages and drawbacks, and we estimate propellant budget and time of flight requirements of each.