Solar Sail Simplified Optimal Control Law for Reaching High Heliocentric Distances

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze optimal trajectories of a solar sail-based spacecraft in missions towards the outer Solar System region. In particular, the paper proposes a simplified approach able to estimate the minimum flight time required to reach a given (sufficiently high) heliocentric distance. In particular, the effect of a set of solar photonic assists on the overall mission performance is analyzed with a simplified numerical approach. A comparison with results taken from the existing literature show the soundness of the proposed approach.