Two-phase framework for near-optimal multi-target Lambert rendezvous

Abstract

This paper proposes a two-phase framework to solve an optimal multi-target Lambert rendezvous problem. The first phase solves a series of single-target rendezvous problems for all departure-arrival object pairs to generate the elementary solutions, which provides candidate rendezvous trajectories (elementary solutions). The second phase formulates a variant of traveling salesman problem (TSP) using the elementary solutions prepared in the first phase and determines the best rendezvous sequence and trajectories of the multi-target rendezvous problem. The validity of the proposed optimization framework is demonstrated through an asteroid exploration case study.