Development of a method for optimal maneuver analysis of complex space missions

A system has been designed which allows mission planners to easily find optimal multiple burn space trajectories. Two previously developed methods with different gravity assumptions perform the optimization function. The power of these programs is extended by a method of costate estimation. A penalty function method of constraining coast arc times to be positive is included. The capability of the method is demonstrated by finding the optimal control for three different space missions. These include a Shuttle abort-once-around mission and two-, and three-burn geo synchronous satellite placement missions.