Preliminary Mission Analysis and Orbit Design for Next Mars Exploration

Abstract

Japan has launched many interplanetary spacecraft for exploration of solar system bodies including Mars. Now we are planning the next Mars mission in the late 2010's. This paper describes the preliminary mission analysis and orbit design for this plan. The combined exploration by several spacecraft requires complicated and careful consideration, different from those for single-probe missions. Mission plans to realize required configuration by a single launch and simple simulation results are reported.