Leveraging Resonant-Orbit Manifolds to Design Transfers Between Libration-Point Orbits

Abstract

Resonant orbits have been widely employed in mission design for planetary flyby trajectories (Jupiter Europa Orbiter) and, more recently, as a source of long-term stability (Interstellar Boundary Explorer). Yet, resonant orbits have not been explored extensively as transfer mechanisms between nonresonant orbits in multibody systems. To highlight the benefit of employing resonant orbits for transfers and given the increased interest in employing libration-point orbits for a variety of purposes, planar and three-dimensional transfers from a low Earth orbit to the vicinity of the Earth–moon libration points via resonant arcs are constructed. Solutions are efficiently generated in the circular restricted three-body model, and transitioned to a higher-fidelity model for validation. Direct optimization techniques are applied to further reduce the propellant requirements, and a system translation process is defined to allow for the quick translation of Earth–moon transfers to other three-body systems.