The Application of Perturbation Method in Low-thrust Orbit Optimization

Abstract

For the multi-target and multi-mission explorations of near-Earth asteroids in the solar system, how to select the reachable targets from a large amount of asteroids is still an unsolved problem in the low-thrust orbit design. Here we explore the orbit transfer problem of a low-thrust spacecraft in the interplanetary space. Adopting the idea of the perturbation theory of traditional celestial mechanics and taking the low-thrust as a perturbation, in the sense of fist-order approximation, we have derived the necessary condition for the successful transfer of two Kepler orbits in the given time under the action of low-thrust. In formulation, this condition is a simple combination of several orbital elements between the initial and terminal orbits, with a small amount of calculations, it can be used to rapidly reject the unreachable asteroids for the given transfer time and low thrust, and the numerical results have confirmed the feasibility of this condition for the near-Earth asteroid explorations.