A practical guide to implementing zero-order-hold interplanetary trajectory legs

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Izzo, Dario, Holt, Harry, Acciarini, Giacomo, Beauregard, Laurent, Shimane, Yuri
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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_version_ 1866913113524142080
author Izzo, Dario
Holt, Harry
Acciarini, Giacomo
Beauregard, Laurent
Shimane, Yuri
author_facet Izzo, Dario
Holt, Harry
Acciarini, Giacomo
Beauregard, Laurent
Shimane, Yuri
contents We study the practical implementation of zero-order-hold (ZOH) transcriptions for spacecraft trajectory optimisation, identifying a set of design principles that render them robust across a broad class of dynamical settings without problem-specific tuning. The contributions are fourfold: (i) a thorough study of the forward--backward shooting construction, denoted $\mathrm{ZOH}_α$; (ii) a redundant four-dimensional throttle parameterization that eliminates the singularity of the control influence matrix along ballistic arcs; (iii) a softmax time-grid encoding that avoids ordering constraints on segment durations while preserving full differentiability; and (iv) the TOPS benchmark (Trajectory Optimisation Problems in Space), a suite of 28 problems spanning four dynamical models, two-body Cartesian, modified equinoctial elements, circular restricted three-body, and solar sailing, designed to be extended over time.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_11043
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A practical guide to implementing zero-order-hold interplanetary trajectory legs
Izzo, Dario
Holt, Harry
Acciarini, Giacomo
Beauregard, Laurent
Shimane, Yuri
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
We study the practical implementation of zero-order-hold (ZOH) transcriptions for spacecraft trajectory optimisation, identifying a set of design principles that render them robust across a broad class of dynamical settings without problem-specific tuning. The contributions are fourfold: (i) a thorough study of the forward--backward shooting construction, denoted $\mathrm{ZOH}_α$; (ii) a redundant four-dimensional throttle parameterization that eliminates the singularity of the control influence matrix along ballistic arcs; (iii) a softmax time-grid encoding that avoids ordering constraints on segment durations while preserving full differentiability; and (iv) the TOPS benchmark (Trajectory Optimisation Problems in Space), a suite of 28 problems spanning four dynamical models, two-body Cartesian, modified equinoctial elements, circular restricted three-body, and solar sailing, designed to be extended over time.
title A practical guide to implementing zero-order-hold interplanetary trajectory legs
topic Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.11043