Cislunar transfer trajectory for reusable OTV via NRHO between Propellant Infrastructure and gateway

Recently, cargo transport missions to the Moon using an Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) have been proposed. A reusable OTV for refueling is essential to facilitate transportation in cislunar space. One study proposed a Propellant Infrastructure (PI) to be placed in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO), but this requires a large ΔV for the OTV to transfer between LEO and the Moon. The transporting cargo in cislunar space is inefficient due to the large system requirements for the OTV. This study investigated a Propellant Infrastructure (PI) in a long elliptical orbit around the Earth. The Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) is a candidate orbit of Gateway and was set as the destination in this analysis. The design of a cislunar trajectory uses the Perilune Rendezvous Method (PRM), which transfers to NRHO with high ΔV efficiency by utilizing perturbation by the Earth. The PRM can also flexibly control time of flight and rendezvous with the PI, where it coincides with the orbital plane. This paper presents a cislunar trajectory between an elliptical Earth orbit and NRHO. This method will facilitate cislunar space development by the reusable OTV system requiring only a small ΔV. • Reuse and refueling are essential for an Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) to operate sustainably and at a low cost in cislunar space. • If the Propellant Infrastructure (PI) orbits in a long elliptical orbit around the Earth, the OTV can shuttle between the Earth and the Gateway with a small ΔV. • Perilune Rendezvous Method (PRM), a transfer method to NRHO, can reduce the ΔV and flexibly control the time of flight. • A returning OTV from the Gateway also can control the orbital parameters and rendezvous with the PI by PRM. • PRM will facilitate cislunar space development with the reusable OTV requiring only a small ΔV.