Mass-Optimal Low-Thrust Forced Periodic Trajectories in the Earth-Moon CR3BP

TL;DR

This paper presents a methodology for designing mass-optimal low-thrust trajectories that produce periodic orbits in the Earth-Moon CR3BP, expanding the set of feasible trajectories in Cislunar space.

Contribution

It introduces a new approach to generate mass-optimal periodic trajectories using low-thrust propulsion in the CR3BP, and analyzes the reachable set compared to energy-limited cases.

Findings

Thrust-limited mass-optimal reachable set is larger than energy-limited set.

Method enables more trajectories in Cislunar space.

Periodic trajectories can be optimized for mass efficiency.

Abstract

In Cislunar space, spacecraft are able to exploit naturally periodic orbits, which provide operational reliability. However, these periodic orbits only exist in a limited volume. Enabled by low-thrust propulsion, spacecraft can produce a greater number of periodic trajectories in Cislunar space. We describe a methodology for producing mass-optimal trajectories that enforce periodic structure in the circular-restricted three body problem and study the thrust-limited reachable set around a reference trajectory. In this study, we find that the thrust-limited mass-optimal reachable set is a superset of the energy-limited energy-optimal reachable set in the xy-plane.