Optimization of Earth-Moon Low-Thrust-Enhanced Low-Energy Transfer
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Abstract
This work proposes an optimization method for the novel class of lunar transfer
that leverages both low-thrust acceleration and weak stability boundary effects simultaneously.
Such translunar orbits are aimed at filling the gap that exists in
conventional transfer options in the trade-off between the time of flight and mass
ratio. We first generate the candidates for the initial guess via backward propagation
from a cislunar periodic orbit. These trajectories are corrected into feasible
solutions, then further optimized based on a multiple-shooting method with a
Sims-Flanagan transcription. The obtained transfer time of the solutions is around
45-70 days, which is almost half of the traditional ballistic transfers (90-110 days)
with a few percent increase in its propellant mass, showing a huge benefit of performing
the low-thrust propulsion in the Earth-Moon low-energy transfer.
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2023-08
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