This work was completed as part of my final project for the course: AERE 5630 Multidisciplinary Design Optimization under Prof. Ping He. Working in a three-member team, I developed a Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) framework for a low-thrust orbit-lowering maneuver around asteroid 16 Psyche. The framework couples trajectory dynamics, physics-based power generation, and electric propulsion models to ensure that thrust and propellant remain consistent with available onboard power.

Unlike traditional trajectory optimization, which assumes constant thrust or specific impulse, this framework uses a high-fidelity Variable Specific Impulse (VSI) model based on the SPT-140 Hall thruster, accounting for solar-array degradation over time. The problem is formulated as a time-optimal control problem and solved using OpenMDAO and Dymos with IPOPT as the nonlinear programming solver. A Fast Fourier Series (FFS) shape-based method provides an initial guess for the low-thrust trajectory to improve convergence robustness.

Due to the computational complexity of the fully coupled problem, the final optimization was performed on a high-performance computing platform. The simulation results show that the coupled optimization model outperforms the baseline trajectory-only model by simultaneously optimizing the trajectory, power usage, and solar array area. The coupled model reduces the transfer time by 8.09% while satisfying all physical and system constraints.