ESA F-Class Comet Interceptor: trajectory design to intercept a yet-to-be-discovered comet

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dc.contributor.authorSánchez, Joan-Pau
dc.contributor.authorMorante, David
dc.contributor.authorHermosin, Pablo
dc.contributor.authorRanuschio, Daniel
dc.contributor.authorEstalella, Alvaro
dc.contributor.authorViera, Dayana
dc.contributor.authorCentuori, Simone
dc.contributor.authorJones, Geraint
dc.contributor.authorSnodgrass, Colin
dc.contributor.authorLevasseur-Regourd, Anny Chantal
dc.contributor.authorTubiana, Cecilia
dc.date.accessioned2021-07-21T15:00:39Z
dc.date.available2021-07-21T15:00:39Z
dc.date.issued2021-07-16
dc.description.abstractComet Interceptor (Comet-I) was selected in June 2019 as the first ESA F-Class mission. In 2029+, Comet-I will hitch a ride to a Sun-Earth L2 quasi-halo orbit, as a co-passenger of ESA's M4 ARIEL mission. It will then remain idle at the L2 point until the right departure conditions are met to intercept a yet-to-be-discovered long period comet (or interstellar body). The fact that Comet-I target is thus unidentified becomes a key aspect of the trajectory and mission design. The paper first analyses the long period comet population and concludes that 2 to 3 feasible targets a year should be expected. Yet, Comet-I will only be able to access some of these, depending mostly on the angular distance between the Earth and the closest nodal point to the Earth's orbit radius. A preliminary analysis of the transfer trajectories has been performed to assess the trade-off between the accessible region and the transfer time for a given spacecraft design, including a fully chemical, a fully electric and a hybrid propulsion system. The different Earth escape options also play a paramount role to enhance Comet-I capability to reach possible long period comet targets. Particularly, Earth-leading intercept configurations have the potential to benefit the most from lunar swing-by departures. Finally, a preliminary Monte Carlo analysis shows that Comet-I has a 95–99% likelihood of successfully visit a pristine newly-discovered long period comet in less than 6 years of mission timespan.en_UK
dc.identifier.citationSánchez JP, Morante D, Hermosin P, et al., (2021) ESA F-Class Comet Interceptor: trajectory design to intercept a yet-to-be-discovered comet. Acta Astronautica, Volume 188, November 2021, pp. 265-277en_UK
dc.identifier.issn0094-5765
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2021.07.014
dc.identifier.urihttps://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/16912
dc.language.isoenen_UK
dc.publisherElsevieren_UK
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/*
dc.subjectLunar swing-byen_UK
dc.subjectThird body effectsen_UK
dc.subjectHybrid propulsion trajectoriesen_UK
dc.subjectTrajectory designen_UK
dc.subjectComet-Ien_UK
dc.titleESA F-Class Comet Interceptor: trajectory design to intercept a yet-to-be-discovered cometen_UK
dc.typeArticleen_UK

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