Research

Analysis of Ballistic Escape Opportunities via Multiple Lunar Swingbys for Fast and Flexible Missions 

To escape the gravitational attraction of the Earth-Moon system and begin an interplanetary trajectory a spacecraft must first fly a hyperbolic escape orbit. To achieve so, interplanetary missions typically make use of medium-to-heavy launchers and dedicated injections, with the associated high cost. This therefore limits the possibility of developing low budget missions.

The research that I conducted here therefore focused on studying more efficient Earth escape routes, specifically by performing gravity assist maneuvers with the Moon since this could offer such an effective interplanetary gateway.

To that end, a streamline of solution refinement which begins on a patched-2BP was used, with Moon flybys modeled as a linked conic. This seed solution was subsequently refined into the CR3BP, and then into the Sun-Earth-Moon BCR4BP. The results obtained show the existence of different trajectory possibilities capable of reaching hyperbolic escape velocities of up to 1.5 km/s using two Moon gravity assists in less than 90 days.

Impulsive & Low-Thrust Optimal Trajectories for Asteroid Mining

My research was focused on preliminary design and optimization of the complete round-trip for asteroid mining missions to a list of 10 asteroids selected by ESA.

Impulsive trajectories were studied using Lambert arcs, while for low-thrust transfers I used generalized logarithmic spirals, a shape-based method. These two techniques were combined with the Non-dominanted Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) to appropiately explore the search space and with the SPICE Toolkit to account for a precise ephemeris model. The results were compared against those obtained with the Small-Body Mission-Design Tool from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Since particular focus was being placed on low-thrust trajectories, the preliminary results I obtained were then refined with the MOLTO-IT tool, where the multi‑objective problem is transcribed into a Nonlinear Programming Problem (NLP) solved by means of the Hermite–Simpson collocation scheme.

Robustness & Maintenance of Quasi-Satellite Orbits around Phobos

The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission is a JAXA spacecraft scheduled for launch in 2024 that will explore Phobos and Deimos, collecting and returning to Earth a sample from Phobos.

Under the scope of my master thesis and internship at the S3L lab, my work consisted on the development of a high fidelity orbital propagator in MATLAB to study the robustness and maintenance of the Quasi-Satellite Orbits of MMX around Phobos. 

These software tool included several dynamical models: the Circular Restricted Three Body Problem (CR3BP), the Elliptical Restricted Three Body Problem (ER3BP), the Perturbed ER3BP and Perturbed Relative Motion. It also introduced the latest spherical harmonics model for Mars (GMM3), a polyhedral Phobos and solar radiation pressure.