Optimization of tethered artificial gravity assists for capture about binary asteroids in the circular restricted three-body problem

The use of tethered artificial gravity assists in space travel to perform orbital maneuvers has the potential to significantly extend missions through the reduction of fuel consumption. As space exploration in the solar system has become more accessible, interest in near-Earth asteroid (NEA) missions has grown. Studying NEAs can yield new information about the early solar system as well as provide important insights into related fields, such as planetary defense. Further, it has been discovered that many NEAs are in binary systems, which presents a unique orbital environment for optimizing spacecraft maneuvers for future asteroid missions. This paper develops an approach employing a genetic algorithm to determine optimal tethered maneuvers to periodic orbits in the vicinity of a binary asteroid using circular restricted three-body problem (CR3BP) dynamics. The optimization identifies the maneuver that results in the greatest change in the Jacobi constant values between the incoming orbit and final desired orbit. This maximizes the benefit of the tethered artificial gravity assist into a periodic orbit about the primary asteroid. The tethered gravity assists are examined for binary asteroid systems with various mass ratios using CR3BP dynamics. This investigation selected three observed binary asteroid systems with orbital eccentricities that allow for modeling using the CR3BP. Optimizations were performed and simulated for the three systems with different mass ratios to investigate and demonstrate the viability of tethered gravity assists in various binary asteroid environments. • Optimized tethered artificial gravity assist maneuvers in binary asteroid systems. • Circular restricted three-body problem modeled for binary asteroid systems. • Tether maneuver parameters determined that maximize the change in Jacobi constant. • Spacecraft were captured into planar periodic orbits within binary asteroid systems. • Analyzed maneuvers in three binary asteroid systems with different mass ratios.