MULTI-OBJECTIVE LOW-THRUST TRAJECTORY OPTIMISATION: VARIABLE AND CONSTANT SPECIFIC IMPULSE

摘要

Variable and constant specific impulse electric propulsion are compared by evaluating their performance by means of the 2-D trajectory optimisation of different missions. The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate the advantage given by variable specific impulse in comparison with constant specific impulse. The optimisation was performed by using multi-objective evolutionary algorithms. Pareto fronts comparing time of flight and useful mass are used to analyse the mission results through the two conflicting objectives.