Design and Analysis of the Transfer Trajectory for the LUMIO Cislunar CubeSat Mission

Abstract The Earth–Moon system is constantly impacted by Solar System meteoroids causing threats to space and ground assets. A detailed characterization of meteoroid impact magnitudes, velocities, and distribution in time and space is fundamental for a proper space threats assessment and mitigation. The lunar surface is a natural detector of such impact phenomena. The LUMIO CubeSat mission aims to observe and characterize meteoroid impacts on the lunar farside, enhancing lunar situational awareness and complementing Earth-based observations of the lunar near-side. This study presents the mission design and analysis of LUMIO’s transfer trajectory, which exploits weak stability boundary dynamics to achieve a cost-effective insertion into the target halo orbit. Leveraging weak stability boundaries reduces the required spacecraft propellant and increases the number of launch opportunities. While focusing on the specific LUMIO mission, this work also highlights key features of the weak stability boundary transfer design which might prove useful for future cislunar missions, and especially for miniaturized platforms.