Micro-spacecraft in Sun-Venus Lagrange point orbit for the Venera-D mission.

The baseline Venera-D mission, proposed to be launched after 2026, consists of an orbiter and a landing module, which includes a lander and a small long-lived station. In this work, we present the possibility of augmenting the mission with one or two micro-spacecraft in Lagrange point orbits to significantly enhance the science return. Both L 1 and L 2 collinear points, situated at about 1 million km from Venus, are considered for scientific objectives. The paper focuses on trajectory design for the micro-spacecraft to be deployed by the Venera-D mission. The transfer scenario we propose performs the insertion of micro-spacecraft into Lagrange point orbit by making use of the main orbiter's propulsion, while the propulsion on board micro-spacecraft is used only for trajectory correction and station-keeping manoeuvres. This scenario allows the Venera-D mission to add one or two micro-spacecraft of mass about 50 kg with only a total Δ V budget 30 m/s over 3 years on orbit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]