Ballistic Capture

Author: Tianjiang Shuo

Website: https://cislunarspace.cn

Definition

The process by which a spacecraft enters a target body's capture region relying solely on natural dynamics, without or with minimal active propulsion. The paper achieves ballistic capture using the weak stability boundary, which is one of the key mechanisms for fuel savings in low-energy transfers.

Application Value

在设计地月转移方案时，利用该轨道特性可降低任务总速度增量需求。该机制使得航天器无需主动减速即可被目标天体引力捕获，显著节省推进剂。脉冲机动是轨道修正和转移的基本操作方式。

Related Concepts

• Hill Sphere Radius
• Pseudospectral Convex Optimization
• Poincaré Map Representation
• Minimum Norm Targeting

References

• Belbruno and Miller, 1993, J. Guidance, Control, and Dynamics; Anderson and Parker, 2012
• Zhang 等 - 2020
• Campana 等 - 2024 - Low-energy earth–moon transfers via theory of functional connections and homotopy
• Belbruno 等 - 2010 - Weak stability boundary and invariant manifolds
• Topputo 2013
• Spreen 2021
• Perozzi和Ferraz-Mello - 2010 - Space manifold dynamics
• Parker和Anderson - 2014 - Low-energy lunar trajectory design