Trajectory Optimization Methods for Low-Thrust Kuiper Belt Flyby Missions

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...

Comparing the performance of machine learning methods in a surrogate approach to optimize low-thrust interplanetary trajectories

Various machine learning algorithms have been applied to find optimal lowthrust<br/>satellite trajectories, however, no fair comparison of their accuracy has been made yet. In this paper, two common and promising supervised machine learning algorithms are compared for their regression capacities:<br/>the artificial neural network and the...

Hybrid optimization of low-thrust many-revolution trajectories with coasting arcs and longitude targeting for propellant minimization

Despite the ongoing advancements in low-thrust propulsion technology and the rise of all-electric satellite platforms, low-thrust spacecraft trajectory optimization remains a complex field of research. Shape-based approximations are predominant in interplanetary applications, but they are generally unsuitable for many-revolution trajectories,...

Low-Thrust Gravity Assist Trajectory Optimisation using Evolutionary Neurocontrol

With all major bodies within the Solar System explored by at least a single fly-by, modern-day missions are becoming increasingly more demanding, up to a point where classical chemical propulsion can no longer supply the required ∆V. Increasingly more is relied upon low-thrust propulsion, characterised by its (very) low thrust force; long...

Analytical Low-Thrust Trajectory Design: Using the Simplified General Perturbations Model

An analytical low-thrust design tool for orbits around Earth has been developed which takes perturbations into account. The Simplified General Perturbations 4 model (SGP4) is combined with Edelbaum’s analytical low-thrust trajectory model. This resulted in the SGP4-LT tool which required an iterative version of SGP4. To obtain this iterative...

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...

Preliminary design of a crewed Mars flyby Solar Electric Propulsion mission

The goal of this thesis research has been the improvement of a validated, robust low-thrust optimization tool for interplanetary trajectory design, written during the author's internship. This improved tool has then been applied to design crewed Martian flyby missions. Such a mission is a crucial step within the flexible path scenario for human...