Ion thrusters to Saturn

Abstract

This paper analyzes a feasible spacecraft flight plan that uses gravitation assistance to transport the spacecraft from Earth to the circular orbit around Saturn (the spacecraft is in a circular orbit around the Earth, with an orbital period of 90 minutes and a total mass of 5000 kg, including fuel) by establishing a low thrust transfer orbit model and calculates the minimum amount of fuel required, which is 1878.73kg. There is also an attempt to evaluate different options for controlling the ion thrusters during the journey, and one of the schemes inspired by the Cassini Huygens spacecraft is proposed and considered optimal. Adopting this plan, the total journey time is calculated to be 14.2 years.