Initial Trajectory Design of the Electric Sail Escaping from Solar System Based on the Bezier Curve Method

Abstract

The detection of the solar system boundary has gradually attracted people's attention. To explore the solar system boundary，we need to find an efficient propulsion system and design a reasonable trajectory to escape from the solar system. Therefore，this paper proposes to use the Bezier shape-based method to quickly generate the three-dimensional trajectory of the electric sail escaping from the solar system，which provides an appropriate initial solution for a more accurate trajectory optimization algorithm. By taking the results obtained by the Bezier shape-based method as the initial solution of Gauss pseudospectral method（GPM），the applicability of the results obtained by the Bezier shape-based method to the initial solution of the direct solver is evaluated. The simulation results show that the Bezier shape-based method can design a reasonable three-dimensional initial trajectory of the electric sail escaping from the solar system for the direct optimization solver in a short time. This is of great significance for the rapid evaluation of a large number of electric sail flight scenarios in the preliminary mission design stage.

Key words： low-thrust trajectory design; escape from the solar system; Bezier shape-based method; preliminary mission analysis

References

[1] BURLAGA L F,BURLAGA L F,NESS N F,et al. Intermittency and q-Gaussian distributions in the magnetic field of the very local interstellar medium(VLISM)Observed by Voyager 1 and Voyager 2[J]. The Astrophysical Journal Letters,2020,901(1):1-6
[2] GURNETT D A,KURTH W S. Plasma densities near and beyond the heliopause from the Voyager 1 and 2 plasma wave instruments[J]. Nature Astronomy,2019,3(11):1024-1028
[3] GURNETT D A,KURTH W S,STONE E C,et al. A foreshock model for interstellar shocks of Solar origin:Voyager 1 and 2 observations[J]. The Astronomical Journal,2021,161(1):1-11
[4] 张恒,文浩,罗操群. 旋转电动帆推进性能指标分析[J]. 动力学与控制学报,2019,17(3):281-287
ZHANG H,WEN H,LUO C Q. Analysis of rotating electric solar sail for spacecraft propulsion[J]. Journal of Dynamics and Control,2019,17(3):281-287
[5] 霍明英,齐乃明,刘宇飞,等. 电动帆改进推力模型及深空探测性能分析[J]. 动力学与控制学报,2018,16(2):151-156
HUO M Y,QI N M,LIU Y F,et al. Refined thrust model of electric sail and analysis of deep space detection performance[J]. Journal of Dynamics and Control,2018,16(2):151-156
[6] PETROPOULOS A,LONGUSKI J. Shape-based algorithm for the automated design of low-thrust gravity assist trajectories[J]. Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets,2004,41(5):787-796
[7] PASCALE P,VASILE M. Preliminary design of low-thrust multiple gravity-assist trajectories[J]. Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets,2006,43(5):1069-1076
[8] WALL B,CONWAY B. Shape-based approach to low-thrust rendezvous trajectory design[J]. Journal of Guidance,Control,and Dynamics,2009,32(1):95-101
[9] XIE C,ZHANG G,ZHANG Y. Simple shaping approximation for low-thrust trajectories between coplanar elliptical orbits[J]. Journal of Guidance,Control,and Dynamics,2015,38(12):2448-2455
[10] PELONI A,DACHWALD B,CERIOTTI M. Multiple near-Earth asteroid rendezvous mission:solar-sailing options[J]. Advances in Space Research,2018,62(8):2084-2098
[11] ABDELKHALIK O,TAHERI E. Approximate on-off low-thrust space trajectories using Fourier series[J]. Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets,2012,49(5):962-965
[12] TAHERI E,ABDELKHALIK O. Fast initial trajectory design for low thrust restricted-three-body problems[J]. Journal of Guidance,Control,and Dynamics,2015,38(11):2146-2160
[13] TAHERI E,ABDELKHALIK O. Initial three-dimensional low-thrust trajectory design[J]. Advances in Space Research,2016(57):889-903
[14] HUO M Y,MENGALI G,QUARTA A,et al. Electric sail trajectory design with bezier curve-based shaping approach[J]. Aerospace Science and Technology,2019(88):126-135
[15] QUARTA A A,MENGALI G. Electric sail mission analysis for outer solar system exploration[J]. Journal of Guidance,Control,and Dynamics,2010,33(3):740-755