Abstract Space mission design places a premium on cost and operational efficiency. The
search for new science and life beyond Earth calls for spacecraft that can deliver scientific …

This paper presents an iterative convex programming algorithm for the complex ascent
trajectory planning problem. Due to the nonlinear dynamics and constraints, ascent …

The problem of guiding a rocket-powered vehicle to land on a planet (or the Moon) with
pinpoint precision and minimum propellant usage is the focus of this work. Three related but …

After providing a brief historical overview on the synergies between artificial intelligence
research, in the areas of evolutionary computations and machine learning, and the optimal …

Orbit determination (OD) for spacecraft with unknown maneuver is always a challenging
task. This paper proposes a novel framework for efficiently solving continuously …

This paper presents a new heat-equation-based smoothing homotopy method for solving
nonlinear optimal control problems with the indirect method. The surrogates, derived from …

Inspired by the widely used smoothing techniques in image processing and statistical
analysis, a novel smoothing homotopy paradigm is proposed in this paper for solving …

The homotopy methods have long served as powerful tools in solving nonlinear optimal
control problems, particularly for which the solutions are highly sensitive to the unknown …

An exoatmospheric midcourse guidance law is proposed to intercept a ballistic missile
during the free-flight phase. The proposed guidance law generates a thrust direction …

Solving fuel-optimal low-thrust trajectory problems is a long-standing challenging topic,
mainly due to the existence of discontinuous bang–bang controls and small convergence …