Earth–Moon low energy trajectory optimization in the real system Original Research Article

The problem of the Earth–Moon low energy trajectory optimization in the real system (the model defined by the JPL ephemeris DE405) is considered in this paper. First, this problem is investigated in the model of circular restricted three-body problem, since the fuel consumption is closely related to the Jacobi integral of the transfer trajectory, a method based on Jacobi integral is proposed and eight optimal trajectories are obtained. These optimal trajectories provide initial information (the flight time and the braking velocity impulse) to search the optimal low energy trajectories in the real system through optimization techniques. Considering the merit and drawback of particle swarm optimization and differential evolution algorithm in solving the space trajectory problem, an improved cooperative evolutionary algorithm is put forward. Result shows that the low energy trajectories in the real system are more fuel-efficient than the corresponding ones under the circular restricted three-body problem.