Astrodynamics Research Group
The Astrodynamics Research Group is led by Prof. Mauro Pontani and currently includes
Alessandro Beolchi
Giulio De Angelis
Edoardo Maria Leonardi
David Paolo Madonna
Chiara Pozzi
with also the involvement, in past and current collaborations, of a number of Reseachers 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)
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 low-thrust orbit transfer from the Lunar 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)
atmospheric reentry and pinpoint landing of lifting vehicles (A,B)
nonlinear orbit control applied to low-thrust transfers (B)
low-thrust orbit transfer from the Lunar Gateway to low lunar orbit (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 appendages (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)
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)