Dawkins, George S.2022-11-102022-11-10197313869504https://hdl.handle.net/10657/12626A 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.application/pdfenThis item is protected by copyright but is made available here under a claim of fair use (17 U.S.C. Section 107) for non-profit research and educational purposes. Users of this work assume the responsibility for determining copyright status prior to reusing, publishing, or reproducing this item for purposes other than what is allowed by fair use or other copyright exemptions. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires express permission of the copyright holder.Thesisreformatted digital