Low-Thrust Trajectory Design Using Reachability Sets near Asteroid 4769 Castalia

TL;DR

This paper introduces a computational method for designing low-thrust transfer trajectories around an asteroid using reachability sets, reducing reliance on initial guesses and enabling iterative trajectory refinement.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel approach utilizing reachability sets on a Poincaré surface for low-thrust trajectory design near asteroids, improving robustness and efficiency.

Findings

Successfully designed a transfer trajectory around asteroid 4769 Castalia.

Demonstrated iterative approach for trajectory refinement.

Reduced dependence on initial guess accuracy.

Abstract

We present a computational approach for the design of continuous low thrust transfers around an asteroid. These transfers are computed through the use of a reachability set generated on a lower dimensional Poincar\'e surface. Complex, long duration transfer trajectories are highly sensitive to the initial guess and generally have a small region of convergence. Computation of the reachable set alleviates the need to generate an accurate initial guess for optimization. From the reachable set, we chose a trajectory which minimizes a distance metric towards the desired target. Successive computation of the reachable set allows for the design of general transfer trajectories which iteratively approach the target. We demonstrate this method by determining a transfer trajectory about the asteroid 4769 Castalia.