Conveners
Low Thrust #2
- Juan Carlos Bastante (OHB System AG)
- Jeroen Van den Eynde (European Space Agency)
- Lale Evrim Briese (German Aerospace Center (DLR))
LOTNAV has been for 10 years the ESA reference tool in the design of finite-thrust and ballistic interplanetary spacecraft trajectories and the preliminary assessment of navigation and guidance issues on the computed trajectories. Within DEIMOS Space LOTNAV has recently undergone a considerable update effort to enhance its modularity and flexibility to extend its applicability to new...
ELECTRO: a SW tool for the ELECtric propulsion TRajectory Optimization
Low-thrust orbit transfers are becoming increasingly attractive thanks to the mass savings they offer and the maturity of electric propulsion technology. For this reason, there is an interest in developing fast, but still reliable trajectory optimisation methods that can be applied in the preliminary phase of the design of...
Traditionally, GTO to GEO transfers using chemical propulsion consist in optimising a rather limited number of manoeuvres. The compliance with the satellite platform and operational constraints are then guaranteed by the launch window design. On the contrary, low-thrust transfers of GEO satellites require very long thrust phases. The complex satellite platform and operational constraints...
