Aerocapture at Jupiter

A Feasibility Assessment

Master thesis (2023)

Authors

E. Viero Aerospace Engineering

Contributors

R. Noomen Astrodynamics & Space Missions - Aerospace Engineering (supervisor 1)
Faculty
Aerospace Engineering
Copyright: © 2023 Edoardo Viero
More Info
expand_more

Published Date

13-06-2023

Language

English

Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Faculty

Aerospace Engineering

Abstract

The current project investigated the feasibility of aerocapture at Jupiter, and the benefits in terms of payload mass fraction that could be achieved compared to traditional orbital insertion burns. A numerical simulation model has been set up, as well as an analytical formulation of the problem. The numerical verification of the analytical model showed that the analytical model still needs to be refined to produce accurate and useful results.
Thermal fluxes, a driving aspect of aerocapture, have been implemented by using correlation laws, as well as corrective terms, all retrieved from literature.
The aerocapture problem was numerically modeled and has been then optimized. However, the best trajectories provided a negative mass fraction benefit of −0.37 when compared to a traditional insertion burn. The best available mass fraction for the spacecraft's entry-unrelated subsystems was 0.44.
Therefore, apart from some niche applications, aerocapture at Jupiter can be considered unappealing at best in the near future.