Mission design for LISA Pathfinder

TL;DR

This paper details the mission design for LISA Pathfinder, focusing on orbit selection, transfer maneuvers, and balancing mission requirements with launch and ground segment constraints.

Contribution

It presents a comprehensive mission design approach for LISA Pathfinder, optimizing orbit choice and transfer strategies for a small, technology-demonstrating spacecraft.

Findings

Optimal Lissajous orbit around L1 identified

Transfer strategy involves apogee-raise maneuvers

Design meets technology demonstration goals efficiently

Abstract

Here we describe the mission design for SMART-2/LISA Pathfinder. The best trade-off between the requirements of a low-disturbance environment and communications distance is found to be a free-insertion Lissajous orbit around the first co-linear Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system L1, 1.5x 10^6 km from Earth. In order to transfer SMART-2/LISA Pathfinder from a low Earth orbit, where it will be placed by a small launcher, the spacecraft carries out a number of apogee-raise manoeuvres, which ultimatively place it to a parabolic escape trajectory towards L1. The challenges of the design of a small mission are met, fulfilling the very demanding technology demonstration requirements without creating excessive requirements on the launch system or the ground segment.