2025/02/07 by Merrill, Colby C., Kulik, Jackson, Bryan, Matthew J. +1
#Dynamical Systems (math.DS) #FOS: Mathematics
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2502.05140
In Cislunar space, spacecraft are able to exploit naturally periodic orbits, which provide operational reliability. However, these periodic orbits only exist in a limited volume. Enabled by low-thrust propulsion, spacecraft can produce a greater number of periodic trajectories in Cislunar space. We describe a methodology for producing mass-optimal trajectories that enforce periodic structure in the circular-restricted three body problem and study the thrust-limited reachable set around a reference trajectory. In this study, we find that the thrust-limited mass-optimal reachable set is a superset of the energy-limited energy-optimal reachable set in the xy-plane.