Description
This course provides the knowledge and tools to design spacecraft trajectories in the context of interplanetary and planetary missions. Starting from a review of Keplerian motion, it covers advanced methods to model gravity-assisted trajectories and design interplanetary transfers. It illustrates the techniques for numerical orbit propagation and the fundamentals of low-thrust trajectory optimization. Finally, it presents the concepts of modern dynamical system theory applied to missions to and around the libration points in the circular restricted-three body problem.