Optimal configuration of a planet-finding mission consisting of a telescope and a constellation of occulters

The optimal configuration of a satellite formation consisting of a telescope and an occulter around Sun-Earth L2 Halo orbits is studied. Trajectory optimization of the occulter motion between imaging sessions of different stars is performed using a range of different criteria and methods. For the direct optimization method, an automated algorithm is written, which converts the optimal control problem to a discrete optimization problem. This is then solved using a Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) algorithm. Thus, the global optimization problem is transformed into a Time-Dependent Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP). The TSP is augmented with various constraints that arrive from the mission, and this problem is solved employing Tabu Search and Branch-And-Cut algorithms. For a concrete understanding of the feasibility of the mission, the performance of an example spacecraft, SMART-1, is analyzed.