Multiobjective Optimization of Impulsive Orbital Trajectories

Abstract

[EN] Space exploration is becoming one of the fastest developing research areas in recent times. However, the cost of sending a rocket with meaningful payload into interplanetary flights is so overwhelming that demands the reduction of the margin of error to the maximum. Launch vehicles are responsible for lifting the satellites outside Earth¿s atmosphere and carrying them to orbit. After the separation of the spacecraft from the launch vehicle, there are some operations that the satellite must be able to perform, such as orbit transfers, orbit maintenance, attitude control and de-orbiting maneuvers. According to the literature [3], orbit transfer is the operation that consumes up to 70% of the total ¿v needed to perform the mission. Therefore, the minimization of orbit transfer propellant requirements would have very positive consequences in satellite deployment missions. Nonetheless, other variables such as the time of flight (TOF) taken to complete the transfer, should be considered when designing a space mission. Classical orbit transfers are only able to provide optimal results at very specific conditions. Hence, the aim of this paper is to develop and implement a program able to provide optimal solutions, in terms of propellant and time of flight, for any orbit transfer in the near-Earth region.