The European Asteroid Impact Mission: Phase a Design and Mission Analysis

AIM is part of a joint collaboration with NASA in the AIDA (Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment) mission. The primary goal of AIDA is to assess the feasibility of deflecting the heliocentric path of a Near Earth Asteroid (NEA) binary system, by impacting on the surface of the smaller secondary asteroid of the couple. The work here presented is part of the phase A study, currently performed by OHB System AG, Politecnico di Milano and Spin. Works under the European Space Agency study for phase A/B1. The paper focuses on the mission analysis of AIM spacecraft during the main phases of the mission: interplanetary transfer, rendezvous with the asteroid and close proximity operations.