Multiple near-earth asteroid rendezvous mission: Solar-sailing options

Abstract

The scientific interest in near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) and the classification of some of those as potentially hazardous for the Earth stimulated the interest in their exploration. Close-up observations of these objects will drastically increase our knowledge about the overall NEA population. For this reason, a multiple NEA rendezvous mission through solar sailing is investigated, taking advantage of the propellantless nature of this propulsion technology. Considering a spacecraft based on the DLR/ESA Gossamer technology, this work focuses on a method for searching possible sequences of NEA encounters. The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated through a number of fully-optimised trajectories. The results show that it is possible to visit five NEAs within 10 years with near-term solar-sail technology. Moreover, a study on a reduced NEA database demonstrates the reliability of the approach used, showing that 58% of the sequences found with an approximated trajectory model can be converted into real feasible solar-sail trajectories. Overall, the study shows the effectiveness of the proposed automatic optimisation algorithm, which is able to find solutions for a large number of mission scenarios without any input required from the user.