Low-Thrust Interplanetary Trajectories with Missed Thrust Events: A Numerical Approach

The problem under consideration is to drive a spatial vehicle to a target at a given final time while minimizing fuel consumption. This is a classical optimal control problem in a deterministic setting. However, temporary stochastic failures of the engine may prevent the vehicle from reaching the target after engine usage is recovered. Therefore, a stochastic optimal control problem is formulated under the constraint of ensuring a minimal probability of hitting the target. This problem is modeled, improved, and finally solved by dualizing the probability constraint and using an Arrow–Hurwicz stochastic algorithm. Numerical results concerning an interplanetary mission are presented.