Orbit expressions in the continuous polar coordinate system

Abstract

This paper shows a new strategy to design low-thrust trajectories by using elaborated rotational coordinates which includes two rotational coordinates used in the circular restricted three-body problems around the departure planet and the target planet. Firstly, a straight-line trajectory in these new coordinates is derived analytically. Secondly, by joining this straight-line trajectory, it can be possible to design low-thrust trajectories which satisfy the boundary conditions easily. In this paper, an example trajectory from Earth to Mars is designed. This example shows the effectiveness of this strategy.