This is a long-overdue volume dedicated to space trajectory optimization. Interest in the subject has grown, as space missions of increasing levels of sophistication, complexity, and scientific return - hardly imaginable in the 1960s - have been designed and flown. Although the basic tools of optimization theory remain an accepted canon, there has been a revolution in the manner in which they are applied and in the development of numerical optimization. This volume purposely includes a variety of both analytical and numerical approaches to trajectory optimization. The choice of authors has been guided by the editor's intention to assemble the most expert and active researchers in the various specialities presented. The authors were given considerable freedom to choose their subjects, and although this may yield a somewhat eclectic volume, it also yields chapters written with palpable enthusiasm and relevance to contemporary problems.

This is a long-overdue volume dedicated to space trajectory optimization. Interest in the subject has grown, as space missions of increasing levels of sophistication, complexity, and scientific return - hardly imaginable in the 1960s - have been designed and flown. Although the basic tools of optimization theory remain an accepted canon, there has been a revolution in the manner in which they are applied and in the development of numerical optimization. This volume purposely includes a variety of both analytical and numerical approaches to trajectory optimization. The choice of authors has been guided by the editor's intention to assemble the most expert and active researchers in the various specialties presented. The authors were given considerable freedom to choose their subjects, and although this may yield a somewhat eclectic volume, it also yields chapters written with palpable enthusiasm and relevant to contemporary problems.

This book explores the design of optimal trajectories for space maneuver vehicles (SMVs) using optimal control-based techniques. It begins with a comprehensive introduction to and overview of three main approaches to trajectory optimization, and subsequently focuses on the design of a novel hybrid optimization strategy that combines an initial guess generator with an improved gradient-based inner optimizer. Further, it highlights the development of multi-objective spacecraft trajectory optimization problems, with a particular focus on multi-objective transcription methods and multi-objective evolutionary algorithms. In its final sections, the book studies spacecraft flight scenarios with noise-perturbed dynamics and probabilistic constraints, and designs and validates new chance-constrained optimal control frameworks. The comprehensive and systematic treatment of practical issues in spacecraft trajectory optimization is one of the book’s major features, making it particularly suited for readers who are seeking practical solutions in spacecraft trajectory optimization. It offers a valuable asset for researchers, engineers, and graduate students in GNC systems, engineering optimization, applied optimal control theory, etc.

A textbook on the theory and applications of optimal spacecraft trajectories

This volume contains a thorough overview of the rapidly growing field of global optimization, with chapters on key topics such as complexity, heuristic methods, derivation of lower bounds for minimization problems, and branch-and-bound methods and convergence. The final chapter offers both benchmark test problems and applications of global optimization, such as finding the conformation of a molecule or planning an optimal trajectory for interplanetary space travel. An appendix provides fundamental information on convex and concave functions. Intended for Ph.D. students, researchers, and practitioners looking for advanced solution methods to difficult optimization problems. It can be used as a supplementary text in an advanced graduate-level seminar.

Want to know not just what makes rockets go up but how to do it optimally? Optimal control theory has become such an important field in aerospace engineering that no graduate student or practicing engineer can afford to be without a working knowledge of it. This is the first book that begins from scratch to teach the reader the basic principles of the calculus of variations, develop the necessary conditions step-by-step, and introduce the elementary computational techniques of optimal control. This book, with problems and an online solution manual, provides the graduate-level reader with enough introductory knowledge so that he or she can not only read the literature and study the next level textbook but can also apply the theory to find optimal solutions in practice. No more is needed than the usual background of an undergraduate engineering, science, or mathematics program: namely calculus, differential equations, and numerical integration. Although finding optimal solutions for these problems is a complex process involving the calculus of variations, the authors carefully lay out step-by-step the most important theorems and concepts. Numerous examples are worked to demonstrate how to apply the theories to everything from classical problems (e.g., crossing a river in minimum time) to engineering problems (e.g., minimum-fuel launch of a satellite). Throughout the book use is made of the time-optimal launch of a satellite into orbit as an important case study with detailed analysis of two examples: launch from the Moon and launch from Earth. For launching into the field of optimal solutions, look no further!

This textbook introduces the theories and practical procedures used in planetary spacecraft navigation. Written by a former member of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) navigation team, it delves into the mathematics behind modern digital navigation programs, as well as the numerous technological resources used by JPL as a key player in the field. In addition, the text offers an analysis of navigation theory application in recent missions, with the goal of showing students the relationship between navigation theory and the real-world orchestration of mission operations.

Comprehensive, classic introduction to space-flight engineering for advanced undergraduate and graduate students provides basic tools for quantitative analysis of the motions of satellites and other vehicles in space.