多体系における低推力推進式宇宙機の重力アシスト軌道の自動設計

2014 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 14F04210
• Research Institution: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
• Principal Investigator: 川勝 康弘 独立行政法人宇宙航空研究開発機構, 宇宙科学研究所, 准教授 (80373439)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): YAM Chit Hong 独立行政法人宇宙航空研究開発機構, 宇宙科学研究所, 外国人特別研究員
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-25 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: Space orbit design / Multi-body systems / Low-thrust trajectories / optimization

Outline of Annual Research Achievements

The research focuses on development of design tools and methods for low-thrust trajectories in multi-body systems. During this period, the following achievements have been made:
1. Developed a high fidelity propagator for multi-body, low-thrust trajectories with a generalized control scheme.
2. Improved the modelling of eclipse of the analytical averaging method for multi-revolution low-thrust trajectories.
3. Applied a new method to analyze the launch window of a micro deep space explorer: PROCYON.
4. Presented the results of DESTINY’s orbit raising design and PROCYON’s launch window analysis in the European Space Agency in Germany and the Netherlands.

Current Status of Research Progress

2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.

Reason

The research is on a good progress as planned, thanks to the successful implementation of the high fidelity propagator and the low-thrust analytical averaging method in C++. The new tools are tested and applied to aid designing the trajectory of a recently launched micro-spacecraft PROCYON.

Strategy for Future Research Activity

The research will continue with extending the detailed modelling of the DESTINY spacecraft and analysis of high-fidelity low-thrust trajectories in a multi-body system. New methods on predicting the Earth’s encounter location will be applied to aid the orbit design and operation of the mission PROCYON.
The research will be implemented in the following steps:
1) Improve the accuracy of modelling the DESTINY spacecraft system, which includes power, mass, and ion engine parameters, etc.
2) Perform simulations on the new DESTINY system design.
3) Develop a new analytical method to predict the encounter location of a low-thrust trajectory in multi-body system.
4) Apply new the method to help designing the micro-asteroid explorer mission PROCYON.

Research Products

• [Presentation] Design and Operation of a Micro-Spacecraft Asteroid Flyby Mission: PROCYON (2015)
  • Author(s): Yoshihide Sugimoto, Stefano Campagnola, Chit Hong Yam, Chikako Hirose, Naoya Ozaki, Bruno Sarli, Hongru Chen, Yosuke Kawabata, Satoshi Ogura, Kaito Ariu, Ryu Funase, Yasuhiro Kawakatsu
  • Organizer: 25th AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Meeting, AAS 15-337
  • Place of Presentation: Williamsburg, VA, USA
  • Year and Date: 2015-01-11 – 2015-01-15
• [Presentation] Launch Window and Sensitivity Analysis of an Asteroid Flyby Mission with Miniature Ion Propulsion System: PROCYON (2014)
  • Author(s): Yam, C. H., Sugimoto, Y., Ozaki, N., Sarli, B., Chen, H., Campagnola, S., Ogura, S., Kawabata, Y, Kawakatsu, Y., Nakajima, S., Funase, R., Nakasuka, S.
  • Organizer: 65th International Astronautical Congress, IAC-14-C1.9.9
  • Place of Presentation: Toronto, Canada
  • Year and Date: 2014-09-29 – 2014-10-03