Orbital Averaging Advancement for Low-Thrust Trajectory Design

This work introduces several improvements to the classical orbital averaging approach for the many-revolution low-thrust trajectory problem. The mean anomaly fast variable is included in the averaged state vector to effectively track spacecraft location throughout an orbit transfer. Additionally, a new approach to optimal coasting is formulated based on the relative effectivity concept and is compared to literature results. Both of these improvements are then leveraged to demonstrate a hybrid model that combines averaged and non-averaged dynamics to produce optimal trajectories from Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) to an Earth-Moon Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO).