Trajectory design for bounded motion near uncertain binary systems comprised of small irregular bodies exploiting sliding control modes

To investigate the behavior of a spacecraft near a pair of irregular bodies, consider a three body configuration (one massless). Two massive bodies, P1 and P2, form the primary system; each primary is initially modeled as an ellipsoid. Concepts and tools similar to those applied in the Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem (CRTBP) are exploited to construct bounded trajectories for a third body in such a synchronous system. Then, to accommodate model uncertainties and other non-gravitational perturbations, a strategy to maintain a spacecraft near a reference path is proposed.