Design of Interplanetary Low-Thrust Trajectory Including Escape and Capture Phase.

A novel design method for interplanetary low-thrust transfer trajectory including escape and capture phase is proposed. In this approach, based on multiple-step design concept, blended locally optimal laws and hybrid method are used to design earth escape, interplanetary transfer and target capture trajectories, respectively. And then, at sphere-of-influence of earth and target planet, the three individual trajectories are jointed by patched condition. The proposed approach can weaken the nonlinear property of orbit dynamic through several gravity fields, and has the advantages of fine convergence and rapidity. Finally, the validity of this method is verified by taking the earth-mars transfer trajectory as an example. The numerical result demonstrates that, the proposed approach can be used to design the whole interplanetary low-thrust trajectory efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]