A flow-informed strategy for ballistic capture trajectory design

In interplanetary mission design, ballistic capture is the phenomenon by which a spacecraft approaches its target body, and performs a number of revolutions around it, without requiring manoeuvres in between. For a spacecraft to be captured, its gravitational interaction with at least two celestial bodies has to be taken into account. Because of...

Targeting a Mars science orbit from Earth using dual chemical-electric propulsion and ballistic capture

Ballistic capture is a relatively novel concept in interplanetary mission design with the potential to make Mars and other targets in the Solar System more accessible. A complete end-to-end interplanetary mission from an Earth-bound orbit to a stable science orbit around Mars (in this case, an areostationary orbit) has been conducted using this...

Earth–Mars low-thrust transfers with ballistic capture and real-Solar-System dynamics

The phenomenon by which a spacecraft can both approach a celestial body and start performing revolutions around it, without needing to manoeuvre in between, is known as ballistic capture. For ballistic capture to take place, the spacecraft must be under the gravitational influence of at least 2 celestial bodies. Therefore, it is possible to...