MINIMUM FUEL MULTI-IMPULSIVE ORBITAL MANEUVERS USING GENETIC ALGORITHMS

This work aims to calculate transfer trajectories between two coplanar orbits using several impulses, trying to find solutions that minimize the costs related to the fuel consumption required to apply those impulses. The algorithm used here uses a time-free approach and a genetic algorithm as a method for solving the problem. Evolutionary optimization is used to solve the Lambert's Problem associated with those transfers and searches for the best trajectories within the various possibilities for solving the problem. After that, a numerical algorithm to solve the same transfers is used, but now considering a low thrust maneuver. This type of propulsion system provides large savings in the consumption, at the expense of more complex and longer maneuvers.