Abstract: The low-thrust gravity-assist (LTGA) trajectory to Jupiter is studied and a novel LTGA model is proposed based on impulsive gravity-assist and low-thrust exponential sinusoid method. A brief description of this method is presented and the solution to the related low-thrust Lambert problem is summarized. LTGA schemes of EMJ, EVEJ, and EMEJ are optimized by differential evolution algorithm and then discussed in detail. Simulation results show that EMJ is the best and the proposed model is efficient for the initial design of LTGA trajectory.

Key words: deep-space exploration, gravity effects, trajectory, low-thrust