Launch opportunity and Aerobraking Strategies for Venus Mission
- Paper number
GLEX-2025,2,1,6,x92422
- Author
Mr. Gurpreet Singh, U R RAO SATELLITE CENTRE (URSC), India
- Coauthor
Dr. Kuldeep Negi, U R RAO SATELLITE CENTRE (URSC), India
- Coauthor
Mr. Satyendra Kumar Singh, ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), India
- Year
2025
- Abstract
Exploratory missions around Venus provide a platform for the scientific community to enhance its understanding of the planet’s composition and surface properties. In this paper, launch opportunities are discussed for 2026 to 2035 for a mission around Venus for different parking Orbits. This paper covers the studies that were carried out on the Earth-Venus transfer trajectory design, $\Delta$V requirements and departure trajectory characteristics. The initial orbit considered is an elliptic parking orbit (EPO) with perigee altitude 180 km, apogee altitude 36000 km and two cases of inclination, 21.4 deg and 45 deg. The paper emphasizes optimizing the $\Delta$V required through aerobraking techniques to decrease propellant mass and enhance payload capabilities. The transfer problem from Earth to Venus is solved by applying the patched conic technique, which splits the trajectory into segments influenced by Earth’s and Venus’s gravitational forces. Lambert’s problem, solved through iterative numerical techniques, helps determine the transfer orbit essential in achieving the desired Venusian science orbit. Optimal Earth departure conditions for different parking orbits have been worked out for launcher, which can give significant gain in $\Delta$V. The article presents two choices for target science orbits around Venus and examines their feasibility. The aerobraking process, divided into walk-in, primary, and walk-out phases, is explored in detail. Aerobraking is initiated after an orbit insertion burn, which places the spacecraft in a highly elliptical orbit. The spacecraft's orbital energy, period, and apoapsis altitude are gradually lowered utilizing the drag force acting on the spacecraft as it passes through the Venus atmosphere in each periapsis passage. Aerobraking strategies are worked out for different Area/mass values and different periapsis altitudes. $\Delta$V is calculated for different phases of Aerobraking and budgeted. Studies are also carried out to assess the payload capability and explore possibility of a mission without employing Aerobraking. Aerobraking is shown to significantly decrease $\Delta$V costs and propellant requirements, making a low-altitude Venus orbiter mission feasible with current launcher capabilities. The results highlight launch opportunities and $\Delta$V requirements with launcher constraints and significance of aerobraking for optimising mission parameters.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
GLEX-2025,2,1,6,x92422.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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