Synodic Resonant Halo Orbits of Solar Sails in Restricted Four-Body Problem

To extend the usability of solar sails in cislunar space, synodic resonant halo orbits around the Earth–moon L1 and L2 points are very promising. The dynamics is dominated by the gravitational forces not only from the Earth and moon but also from the sun, as well as solar radiation pressure (SRP); but, these forces are not considered in the classical circular restricted three-body problem. In this paper, we analyze 2:1, 3:1, and 4:1 synodic resonant halo orbits in two kinds of restricted four-body problems that consider the influence of SRP: the bicircular restricted four-body problem (BCR4BP), and the higher-fidelity ephemeris model. The orbits in the BCR4BP are computed by two different continuation schemes. Because the characteristics of the orbits depend on the magnitude of the SRP, which is determined by the sail area-to-spacecraft mass ratio (A∕M), various values of the A∕M are comprehensively applied to the computation. Furthermore, on the basis of the orbits designed in the BCR4BP, orbits in the ephemeris model are computed for two typical epochs to investigate the influence of perturbations that are not considered in the BCR4BP. The results provide comprehensive insights into the characteristics of the quasi-halo orbits of solar sails, which are useful for cislunar missions.