Low-thrust lunar capture leveraging nonlinear orbit control

Nonlinear orbit control with the use of low-thrust propulsion is proposed as an effective strategy for autonomous guidance of a space vehicle directed toward the Moon. Orbital motion is described in an ephemeris model, with the inclusion of the most relevant perturbations. Unfavorable initial conditions, associated with weak, temporary lunar capture, are considered, as representative conditions that may be encountered in real mission scenarios. These may occur when the spacecraft is released in nonnominal flight conditions, which would naturally lead it to impact the Moon or escape the lunar gravitational attraction. To avoid this, low-thrust propulsion, in conjunction with nonlinear orbit control, is employed, to drive the space vehicle toward two different, prescribed, low-altitude lunar orbits. Nonlinear orbit control leads to identifying a saturated feedback law (for the low-thrust magnitude and direction) that is proven to enjoy global stability properties. The guidance strategy at hand is successfully tested on three different mission scenarios. Then, the capture region is identified, and includes a large set of initial conditions for which nonlinear orbit control with low-thrust propulsion is effective to achieve lunar capture and final orbit acquisition. For the purpose of achieving lunar capture, low-thrust propulsion is shown to be more effective if ignited at aposelenium.