Virtual gravity assists maneuvers in the interplanetary ballistic mission design

It is shown that the backward in time extension of the spacecraft interplanetary launch trajectory from the point of the low orbit of the departure planet generates a trajectory structurally coinciding with the virtual gravity assist trajectory near the departure planet. The beam of virtual flight hyperbolas built on its basis generates (after they are pulled to their pericenters) trajectories slightly different from the design departure orbit of the spacecraft. Thus, the search for the trajectory of an interplanetary flight can be separated from the need to take into account the boundary conditions of the launch from an intermediate low prelaunch orbit. The pre-launch orbit is refined on the results of the search for the trajectory of the interplanetary flight. A structurally uniform scheme of ballistic design of spacecraft flight paths using multiple gravitational maneuvers based on the consideration of planetary ephemerides is presented.

gravitational scattering, gravity assist, virtual gravity assist maneuver, chains of double bounce gravity assists