Optimal solar sail trajectory approximation with finite Fourier series

Solar Sail Near-Optimal Circular Transfers with Plane Change

Near-minimum time interplanetary trajectories between circular orbits with different orbital planes are investigated. By assumption, the mission is carried out with a solar sail spacecraft, whose performance takes into account the optical characteristics of the sail film and the maximum temperature constraint. In an effort to obtain a general, albeit approximate, solution, the problem is tackle...

Symmetries in the Optimal Control of Solar Sail Spacecraft

The theory of optimal control is applied to obtain minimum-time trajectories for solar sail spacecraft for interplanetary missions. We consider the gravitational and solar radiation forces due to the Sun. The spacecraft is modelled as a flat sail of mass m and surface area A and is treated dynamically as a point mass. Coplanar circular orbits are assumed for the planets. We obtain optimal traje...

Accessing the Solar System With a Small Solar Sail

Solar sailing is a proposed means of space propulsion in which a reflective surface collects momentum from solar photons to accelerate a vehicle. The current trend within the solar sailing community is to increase sail size as solar sailing technologies advance, allowing for larger payloads and higher accelerations. However, with the miniaturization of modern payloads, sail sizes can be dramati...

Solar Sail Trajectory Design for a Multiple Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous Mission

Electric Solar Wind Sail Mass Budget Model

The electric solar wind sail (E-sail) is a new type of propellantless propulsion system for Solar System transportation, which uses the natural solar wind for producing spacecraft propulsion. This paper discusses a mass breakdown and a performance model for 5 an E-sail spacecraft that hosts a scientific payload of prescribed mass. In particular, the model is able to estimate the total spacecraf...