Trajectory Browser

Trajectory Search

This page features a tool to find spacecraft trajectories to planets and small-bodies. For ideas of what to search for, view the example queries page. A user guide is also available explaining search constraints, the methodology behind trajectory computations and the important limitations of the tool.

Select Destinations

NEOs with constraints:

Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are bodies that orbit the sun with perihelion distance less than 1.3 AU. [more]

Asteroids Comets

Max absolute magnitude of

A body's absolute magnitude gives a rough idea of its size. For example, a magnitude 25 object is approximately 35 m in size whereas a magnitude 20 object is about 350 m in diameter. [more]

Max orbit condition code of

The orbit condition code is an integer between 0 and 9 indicating how well an object's orbit is known, where 0 indicates a well-determined orbit and 9 insufficient observations for long-term orbit prediction. [more]

Custom list:

Alternatively include a custom list of NEOs or planets, one object per line. E.g. 'Apophis', 'Mars', or '2010 UE51'. [more]

A list of NEOs matching specific parameters of interest can be generated with the Small-Body database search engine.

Specify Trajectory Constraints

Mission type:

Specify if the trajectory is to include an Earth-return segment and indicate nature of encounter. [more]

Launch year:

Range of acceptable launch years, assumed to refer to January 1^st of bounding years. [more]

Max duration:

Maximum acceptable total mission duration. [more]

Max ΔV:

km/s

Maximum total ΔV (indicator of propellant requirement) from a 200 km circular Low-Earth Orbit (LEO). [more]

Minimize:

Parameter to minimize if more than one trajectory per destination is found to meet above constraints. [more]

Show:

Specify maximum frequency of optima per destination across launch year window. [more]



SPK-ID	Unique object identifier
Name	Full name of object
Absolute Mag	H magnitude for asteroids, M2 nuclear magnitude for comets[more]
Size	Known or estimated range of diameters[more]
Orbit Condition Code	Orbit knowledge uncertainty (0-9)[more]
Earth Departure	Departure date from Earth
Destination Arrival	Arrival date at destination
Destination Flyby	Flyby date of object
Destination Depature	Departure date from destination
Earth Arrival	Return date to Earth
Stay time	Time spent at destination
Duration	Total mission duration
Injection C3	Energy required for Earth departure[more]
DLA	Declination of the launching asymptote[more]
Injection ΔV	Change in velocity required for Earth departure from 200 km LEO[more]
Post-injection ΔV	Change in velocity required for all maneuvers after Earth departure[more]
Total ΔV	Total change in velocity required[more]
Flyby speed	Relative speed of spacecraft and object at closest approach
Earth reentry speed	Relative speed of spacecraft to Earth at reentry
Route	Trajectory itinerary[more]
See the user guide for more documentation.

SPK-ID

Unique object identifier

Name

Full name of object

Absolute Mag

H magnitude for asteroids, M2 nuclear magnitude for comets[more]

Size

Known or estimated range of diameters[more]

Orbit Condition Code

Orbit knowledge uncertainty (0-9)[more]

Earth Departure

Departure date from Earth