Methodology of Optimal Control of Low-Thrust Spacecraft Transfer Between Halo Orbits Around the Earth-Moon L2 Libration Point

Abstract—The paper considers the problem of optimal control of an electric propulsion spacecraft maneuvering between the spatial halo orbits around the L2 libration point in the Earth−Moon system. The proposed methodology finds the initial approximations for calculating the transfer trajectories within the framework of restricted three-body problem and improves the computational efficiency of calculations. A low-thrust transfer between the halo orbits is calculated to confirm the validity of this computational procedure.