Orbit transfer manoeuvres as a test benchmark for comparison metrics of evolutionary algorithms

In the present paper some metrics for evaluating the performance of evolutionary algorithms are considered. The capabilities of two different optimisation approaches are compared on three test cases, represented by the optimisation of orbital transfer trajectories. The complexity of the problem of ranking stochastic algorithms by means of quantitative indices is analyzed by means of a large sample of runs, so as to derive statistical properties of the indices in order to evaluate their usefulness in understanding the actual algorithm capabilities and their possible intrinsic limitations in providing reliable information.