Optimum transfer to a large-amplitude halo orbit for the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), built by the European Space Agency to study the Sun as part of the International Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) Program, will be launched in July 1995 into a transfer trajectory that terminates in a large-amplitude halo orbit. The spacecraft will enter the halo orbit by performing one insertion maneuver at a specified point on the halo orbit. The position on the halo orbit that requires the least fuel for the insertion maneuver is identified using the planar, circular restricted three-body problem as a model. Fuel costs for halo orbit insertion at other points in the orbit are also identified. Practical trajectories incorporating all significant accelerations are discussed. The use of a lunar swingby to avoid any insertion maneuver is mentioned.