Orbit Design and Optimization of Small Thrust Spacecraft for Jupiter Exploration

Jupiter has been the main object for exploration except other planets, considering not only the great significance for revealing the formation of solar system, but also can obtain more valuable space resources and information. In this paper, the orbit of Jupiter probe is designed and optimized by small thrust propulsion with gravity assistance. The combined coordinate system combining polar coordinates and orbital parameters is used to construct a spatial dynamics model of the motion of small thrust spacecraft. Three gravitational assist schemes are selected, based on the shape method and optimization algorithms the gravitational assist scheme parameters are determined. Also, the optimization problem of continuous small thrust trajectory is analyzed, and the particle swarm optimization(PSO) algorithm coordinated with the improved Newtonian iterative method is used to search for the initial value of the exact covariate variable with the optimal energy, and the optimal transfer orbit of the heliocentric fuel is obtained by the homotopy method. The final results show that the “Earth-Mars-Jupiter” scheme requires a minimum increase in delta-v, further orbital optimization, and calculation of fuel consumption throughout the process. This method provides a solution for Jupiter exploration, rapid determination of orbit design, and optimization of solutions.