Mission Design of an Aperture-Synthetic Interferometer System for Space-Based Exoplanet Exploration

In recent years, exoplanet detection has become the technological frontier in the field of astronomy, because it provides evidence of the origin of life and the future human habitable exoplanet. Deploying several satellites to form an aperture-synthetic interferometer system in space may help discover “another Earth” via interferometry and midinfrared broadband spectroscopy. This paper analyzes a space-based exoplanet exploration mission in terms of the scientific background, mission profile, trajectory design, and orbital maintenance. First, the system architecture and working principle of the interferometer system are briefly introduced. Secondly, the mission orbit and corresponding transfer trajectories are discussed. The halo orbit near the Sun-Earth L2 (SEL2) orbit is chosen as the candidate mission orbit. The low-energy transfer via stable invariant manifold with multiple perigees is designed, and the proper launch windows are presented. A speed increment less than 10 m/s is imposed for each transfer to achieve the insertion of the halo orbit. Finally, the tangent targeting method (TTM) is applied for high-precision formation maintenance with the whole velocity increments of less than 5 × 10⁻⁴ m/s for each spacecraft when the error bound is 0.1 m. The overall fuel budget during the mission period is evaluated and compared. The design in this paper will provide technical support and reliable reference for future exoplanet exploration missions.