Optimal heliostationary missions of high-performance sailcraft

The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive and systematic study of optimal trajectories by characterizing sailcraft heliostationary orbits through the statement of a minimum-time problem. An indirect method is applied to calculate the control laws that minimize the mission time. An important contribution is a comparison of realistic with simplified (ideal) sail force models and an attempt is made to describe these models through a unified, compact formulation. Two cases are considered, that is the final heliostationary distance is left free or it is constrained to assume a specified value. Also, the problem is solved for both circular and elliptical parking orbits.