Orbit to Orbit Travel: Continuous Thrust

The optimization of the spacecraft cannot however be performed considering only the interplanetary leg of the space travel: the optimization must take into account the whole journey, which is made by at least 3 phases: the acceleration around the starting planet, the interplanetary transfer and the braking around the destination planet. A low thrust spacecraft may start from a low orbit about the starting planet using its own thrusters, performing a spiral trajectory leading it outside the sphere of influence of the planet, or may use a booster to perform a quick escape from the starting orbit. The same can be done at arrival, with the added possibility of performing an aerodynamic maneuver,