Low-Energy Transit Trajectories Near Libration Points

Abstract

To increase the efficiency of interplanetary flights, it is advisable to use low-energy trajectories with a small change energy on transfer between massive bodies. The paper considers an approach to designing transit trajectories based on the flyby of libration points L1 and L2 with near-zero velocity, which corresponds to the minimum possible energy change on the trajectory. In the model of a circular restricted three-body problem, these trajectories correspond to motion over invariant manifolds of libration points. Transit trajectories are modeled, and their parameters (capture duration and orbital parameters) are estimated within the framework of the circular and elliptical three-body problem. The influence of the ratio of the masses of massive bodies and the eccentricity of the orbit of a smaller body on the parameters of low-energy transit trajectories in a elliptic restricted three-body problem is analyzed. Examples of trajectories suitable for practical use in interplanetary missions, in the Earth–Moon system, in the Jupiter and Saturn systems are considered.