Global Optimality in Multi-Flyby Asteroid Trajectory Optimization: Theory and Application Techniques

Abstract

Designing optimal trajectories for multi-flyby asteroid missions is scientifically critical but technically challenging due to nonlinear dynamics, intermediate constraints, and numerous local optima. This paper establishes a method that approaches global optimality for multi-flyby trajectory optimization under a given sequence. The original optimal control problem with interior-point equality constraints is transformed into a multi-stage decision formulation. This reformulation enables direct application of dynamic programming in lower dimensions, and follows Bellman's principle of optimality. Moreover, the method provides a quantifiable bound on global optima errors introduced by discretization and approximation assumptions, thus ensuring a measure of confidence in the obtained solution. The method accommodates both impulsive and low-thrust maneuver schemes in rendezvous and flyby scenarios. Several computational techniques are introduced to enhance efficiency, including a specialized solution for bi-impulse cases and an adaptive step refinement strategy. The proposed method is validated through three problems: 1) an impulsive variant of the fourth Global Trajectory Optimization competition problem (GTOC4), 2) the GTOC11 problem, and 3) the original low-thrust GTOC4 problem. Each case demonstrates improvements in fuel consumption over the best-known trajectories. These results give evidence of the generality and effectiveness of the proposed method in global trajectory optimization.