Hybrid Optimization of Low-Thrust Many-Revolution Trajectories with Coasting Arcs and Longitude Targeting for Propellant Minimization

Electric Propulsion (EP) has become one of the most efficient technologies for spacecraft propulsion. In contrast to conventional chemical propulsion, the low thrust force generated by EP thrusters can deliver a momentum transfer to the spacecraft that is up to twenty times greater, for an equivalent propellant expenditure. Despite decades of...