In this research project, the design of a smallsat mission to a Halo orbit around the Earth-Moon second libration point (EML-2) using a rideshare launch opportunity to an inclined geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) was investigated.
The design leverages classical results from Dynamical Systems Theory (DST) to determine low-energy transfers from Earth to the libration orbit, and a new design methodology was developed to generate a bridge trajectory that connects the initial GTO to the low-energy transfer trajectory. The results obtained during the research prove the validity of the mission design, and show the feasibility of using a rideshare launch opportunity to achieve the mission goals.