Astrodynamics Research Group

The Astrodynamics Research Group is led by Prof. Mauro Pontani and currently includes

• Alessandro Beolchi

• Matteo Carattoli

• Giulio De Angelis

• Edoardo Maria Leonardi

• David Paolo Madonna

• Armando Pastore

• Chiara Pozzi

• Dario Sanna

with also the involvement, in past and current collaborations, of a number of Researchers from both national and international Institutions.

Research fields

(A) Atmospheric flight       

(B) Orbital mechanics       

(C) Attitude dynamics

Research areas and related topics

Astrodynamics and mission analysis

• low-energy mission analyis and design in multibody environments (B)

• periodic orbits in the circular restricted three-body problem (B)

• space manifold dynamics and connections (B)

• capture dynamics in the circular restricted three-body problem (B)

• low-thrust lunar capture leveraging nonlinear orbit control (B)

• symmetry properties of optimal relative orbit trajectories (B)

• spacecraft end-of-life strategies for low-energy missions (B)

• cycling trajectories for Earth-Mars missions (B)

• low-altitude lunar orbit dynamics and maintenance strategies (B)

• determination and maintenance strategy of stable operational Martian orbits (B)

• long-term orbit evolution of decommissioned geostationary satellites (B)

• quasi-periodic orbits in the elliptic restricted three-body problem with orbital resonance (B)

• Orbit acquisition, rendezvous, and docking with a noncooperative capsule in a Mars sample return mission (B)

• Mars orbit injection via aerocapture and low-thrust nonlinear orbit control (B)

• Earth-Mars mission design leveraging ballistic capture and low-thrust propulsion (B)

• Earth-Venus mission design using weak capture and nonlinear orbit control (B)

Analytical and numerical optimization of aerospace maneuvers

• minimum-time-to-climb path of a Boeing 727 aircraft (A)

• optimal ascent path of multistage launch vehicles (A,B)

• optimal mirror trajectories in the circular restricted three-body problem (B)

• globally optimal impulsive orbit transfers (free orientation) (B)

• optimal 2-d and 3-d impulsive orbit transfers (B)

• minimum-fuel finite-thrust orbit transfers between circular and elliptic orbits (B)

• minimum-fuel, multiple-thrust-arc rendezvous (B)

• minimum-time, finite-thrust maneuvers (Euler-Hill frame) (B)

• minimum-fuel, finite-thrust maneuvers (Euler-Hill frame) (B)

• optimal interception of ICBM from an orbital station (B)

• optimal interception of an orbiting satellite (B)

• multi-arc spacecraft trajectory optimization (B)

• minimum-time low-thrust lunar orbit transfers, without and with eclipsing (B)

• minimum-time low-thrust Earth orbit transfers, without and with eclipsing (B)

• minimum-time low-thrust Earth-Moon orbit transfers (B)

• minimum-time two-way low-thrust orbit transfer from Gateway to low lunar orbit (B)

• minimum-time two-way low-thrust orbit transfer from Gateway to low Earth orbit (B)

• optimal impulsive orbit transfers from Gateway to low lunar orbit (B)

• optimal impulsive hyperbolic rendezvous (B)

• minimum-time finite-thrust hyperbolic rendezvous (B)

• minimum-time lunar ascent and orbit injection (B)

• minimum-time lunar descent and soft landing (B)

• optimal impulsive Earth-Moon orbit transfers (B)

• minimum-time attitude reorientation maneuvers (C)

Guidance and control of aerospace vehicles

• sounding rockets (A,B)

• variable-time-domain neighboring optimal guidance (VTD-NOG) (A,B)

• climbing path of the Boeing 727 aircraft via VTD-NOG (A)

• interception of falling and maneuvering targets via VTD-NOG (A,B)

• lunar descent and soft landing via VTD-NOG (B,C)

• lunar ascent and orbit injection via VTD-NOG (B,C)

• lunar fast ascent and descent via VTD-NOG (B)

• low-thrust Earth orbit transfer via VTD-NOG (B,C)

• low-thrust lunar orbit transfer via VTD-NOG (B,C)

• locally-flat near-optimal guidance for orbit injection and descent paths (B,C)

• predictive hysteretic guidance and attitude control for terminal lunar landing (B,C)

• near-optimal explicit guidance and reduced attitude control for pinpoint lunar landing (B,C)

• atmospheric reentry and pinpoint landing of lifting vehicles (A,B)

• nonlinear orbit control applied to low-thrust transfers (B)

• low-thrust orbit control for very-low-altitude lunar orbits (B)

• low-thrust orbit transfer from the Lunar Gateway to low lunar orbit (B,C)

• proximity maneuvers in cislunar space (B)

• rendezvous and mating with Gateway (B,C)

• upper stage orbit injection of multistage launch vehicles (B,C)

• low-thrust transfers to quasi-synchronous Martian elliptic orbit (B)

• orbital and attitude control in berthing and docking scenarios (B,C)

• orbital and attitude control and trajectory planning of a space manipulator system (B,C)

• attitude reorientation of spacecraft equipped with flexible appendages and momentum exchange devices (C)

• attitude maneuvers of a flexible spacecraft for space debris detection and collision avoidance (C)

• attitude dynamics of flexible spacecraft with spinning subsystems (C)

Dynamic game theory applied to aerospace trajectories

• pursuit-evasion game involving two missiles (B)

• pursuit-evasion game involving a missile and a spacecraft (B)

• pursuit-evasion game involving two spacecraft (B)

• orbital pursuit-evasion game (Euler-Hill frame) (B)

Satellite constellations

• circular-orbit satellite constellations for the local coverage of target areas (B)

• eccentric-orbit satellite constellations for continuous, local coverage of target areas (B)

• lunar satellite constellations using space manifold dynamics (B)

• design and deployment strategies of a satellite constellation for polar ice monitoring (B)

• design and deployment strategies of a satellite constellation for global coverage of Mars (B)

• deployment strategies of a lunar constellation from Gateway (B)

• intersat information routing via static digraph and stereographic projection (B)

Launch, ascent and descent vehicles, and satellite release systems

• minimum-time-to-climb path of a Boeing 727 aircraft (A)

• accurate modeling and performance evaluation of multistage launch vehicles (A,B)

• optimal ascent path of multistage launch vehicles (A,B)

• airlaunch of microsatellites from a high performance aircraft (A,B)

• nanosatellite dynamics at lunar orbit injection (B)

• nanosatellite dynamics at Earth orbit injection (B)

• minimum-time lunar descent and soft landing (B)

• minimum-time lunar ascent and orbit injection (B)

• locally-flat near-optimal guidance for orbit injection and descent paths (B,C)

• predictive hysteretic guidance and attitude control for terminal lunar landing (B,C)

• atmospheric reentry and pinpoint landing of lifting vehicles (A,B)

• deployment strategies of satellites for constellations about Earth or Mars (B)

• deployment strategies of a lunar constellation from Gateway (B)

• near-optimal explicit guidance and reduced attitude control for pinpoint lunar landing (B,C)