Complex trajectory design with low-thrust based motion primitives

The problem of sending a spacecraft to visit multiple asteroids within a specific list of Main-belt asteroids is studied. The spacecraft uses a low-thrust engine and the solutions consist of sequences of transfers that can be used for mission design purposes. The novel idea of motion primitives is used to derive closed-form expressions that describe the evolution of the states and acceleration of the spacecraft. For preliminary search, the motion primitives are incorporated within a high-level multi-objectives trajectory optimization tool and a genetic algorithm based low-thrust trajectory optimizer finalizes the solutions. Detailed analysis of the idea of motion primitive, overall search strategy, and the resulting sequences are presented. The motion primitive solutions are compared against Lambert-based and low-thrust optimal solutions in terms of accuracy and speed.