Mass-Optimal Low-Thrust Forced Periodic Trajectories in the Earth-Moon CR3BP

Abstract

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.