Optimal control of tethered planetary capture missions

The Chebyshev psedopectral method to obtain optimal trajectories for tethered planetary capture missions was discussed. The objective was to deploy a payload on a tether at some point during hyberbolic flyby to be released into captured orbit (e<1). The tethers provide an efficient means for performing controlled planetary capture maneuvers and space exploration. The numerical result shows that it was possible to transfer a payload from hyberbolic orbit to an elliptical orbit by use of practical tether reel rates (10-20 m/s) at venus and jupiter.