Abolfazl Shirazi

The transfer trajectories for a space maneuver are critical when the travel time and the energy consumption of the spacecraft become the matter of importance in a space mission. In space engineering, finding the optimal trajectory for transferring the space vehicle from one orbit to another is a challenging optimization problem. Due to nonlinearity of spacecraft dynamics and the complexity of the mathematical model of the space environment, the optimal solution can not be achieved analytically. Therefore, numerical approaches are usually chosen for such problems. With recent advances in artificial intelligence and high speed computation capabilities, evolutionary approaches are becoming more popular in tackling spacecraft trajectory optimization problems. Novel meta-heuristics techniques, more specifically innovative evolutionary algorithms, have been applied to many trajectory optimization problems immensely. In this regard, the development of new evolutionary algorithms for finding near-optimal transfer trajectories for spacecraft is a reputed field, in which both the aerospace engineering community and computer science community can contribute with novel ideas.

Simulation platforms in space engineering are essential tools for space mission analysis and design. As the design and optimization rapidly grow in aerospace industries, the development of simulation tools and packages becomes more important every year. Such simulation tools are used for real-world mission support, engineering studies, as a tool for education, and public engagement. Since the vast majority of the key elements in simulating a space orbit are associated with design, optimization and 3D visualization, a practical software in this regard needs to have significant features. These features include containing various orbit propagation models, supporting different space missions and flight regimes such as Earth orbiting missions, lunar missions, libration points, deep space missions and interplanetary missions, having a user friendly environment and modularity.

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