1st ACT Global Trajectory Optimisation Competition: Results found at DEIMOS Space

This paper presents the analyses performed by DEIMOS Space S.L. in response to the 1st ACT Competition on Global Trajectory Optimisation issued by the Advanced Concepts Team at ESA. Being the subject of the Contest within one of the main activities performed at the Mission Analysis Section at DEIMOS, it was decided that participating to the Contest on the basis of our expertise and by making use of our tools would be a challenging and motivating test. DEIMOS Space hereby presents a summary of the assessment on the proposed problem based on a synergic approach to Global Optimisation which has rendered a large number of possibilities to hit the asteroid in the conditions proposed in the statement of the problem. Only a small number of them were finally refined until complete convergence. The best solution is based on an arriving retrograde trajectory towards the target asteroid, reached after successfully finding a Jupiter-Saturn-Jupiter final sequence of swingbys.