Applied Trajectory Design for close-proximity operations of Asteroid CubeSat Mission

TL;DR

This paper presents a practical trajectory design method for asteroid CubeSat missions, emphasizing the importance of considering uncertainties and operational constraints to ensure feasible and reliable close-proximity operations.

Contribution

It introduces a trajectory design approach that accounts for real-world uncertainties and operational constraints specific to small-body asteroid missions with CubeSats.

Findings

Trajectory design considering uncertainties improves mission feasibility.

Operational constraints significantly influence trajectory planning.

Case study on Milani CubeSat demonstrates practical application.

Abstract

In this paper, a practical approach to the trajectory design for asteroid exploration missions with CubeSats is presented. When applied trajectories are sought, operative concerns and uncertainties affecting the spacecraft dynamics must be considered during the design process. Otherwise, trajectories that are possible on paper might become unfeasible when real-world constraints are considered. The risk of such eventualities leads to the urge of extending the trajectory design focus on the uncertainties affecting the dynamics and on the operative constraints derived by ground operations. This is especially true when targeting highly perturbed environments such as small bodies with low-cost solutions as CubeSats, whose capabilities in deep-space are still unknown. The case study presented is the Milani CubeSat which will be launched in 2024 with Hera in the frame of the AIDA mission.