Team theAntipodes: solution methodology for GTOC11

This paper presents the solution approach developed by the team “theAntipodes” for the 11th Global Trajectory Optimization Competition (GTOC11). The approach consists of four main blocks: (1) mothership chain generation, (2) rendezvous table generation, (3) the dispatcher, and (4) the refinement. Blocks 1 and 3 are purely combinatorial optimization problems that select the asteroids to visit and allocate them to the Dyson ring stations. The rendezvous table generation involves interpolating time-optimal transfers to find all transfer opportunities between selected asteroids and the ring stations. The dispatcher uses the data stored in the table and allocates the asteroids to the Dyson ring stations in an optimal fashion. The refinement ensures each rendezvous trajectory meets the problem accuracy constraints, and introduces deep-space maneuvers to the mothership transfers. We provide the details of our solution that, with a score of 5992, was worth 3rd place.