Mubody, an astrodynamics open-source Python library focused on libration points

Abstract

Mubody is an astrodynamics open-source Python library focused on the libration points. Such points result from the equilibrium of the gravitational forces between two massive bodies as the Sun and Earth, for example. The library is mainly intended for the generation of orbits in these regions, which is not a straightforward process, specially if perturbations are considered. Currently, the library allows to generate Lissajous orbits in the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system under the influence of perturbations such as the Earth orbit eccentricity. The next milestone, as a result of a master student work, is the incorporation of Halo orbits and the expansion to all three collinear libration points from any two massive bodies of the Solar System. This tool has been developed as part of a PhD, motivated by the need of performing mission analysis in libration point regions. Nevertheless, since its creation it has also proven to be an excellent academic tool for both enhancing the library itself and using its results for further studies (collision risk, thermal analysis, formation flight control, etc). As a result, the tool has rapidly evolved, building onto the knowledge and experience that the students gather while working on their academic projects (bachelor’s degree dissertations, master theses, subjects, internships). The participation on the library development provides students with experience in orbital mechanics, software design, version control and it compels them to ensure that their work can be readily used by others as it is properly documented. The project is hosted in GitLab under a MIT licence

poliastro: a Python library for interactive astrodynamics

“…Several open source projects have successfully used poliastro or were created taking inspiration from it, like spacetech-ssa by IBM 1 or mubody [BBVPFSC22]. AGI (previously Analytical Graphics, Inc., now Ansys Government Initiatives) published a series of scripts to automate the commercial tool STK from Python leveraging poliastro 2 .…”