Characterisation of Shape-Based Methods and Combination with Coasting Arcs

Low-thrust propulsion's main advantage is its efficient propellant usage. This holds for manoeuvres as well as for major orbital changes, both for LEO/MEO/GEO satellites and for interplanetary missions. In designing such missions, extensive numerical models as well as less demanding analytic first-order approximations can be used. A specific...

Optimisation Strategies for Galilean Moon Tours: Low-Thrust Multiple Gravity-Assist Trajectory Design for GTOC6

Around 1610 Galileo Galilei made his discovery of the four large moons orbiting Jupiter which are referred to now as the Galilean moons. The moons Europa and Ganymede attract a significant amount of scientific interest due to potential present subsurface oceans. As consequence, the design of missions to go there and explore the moon system are...