Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
This video visualizes the exploration campaign designed by ESA’s Advanced Concepts Team for the fictitious Altaira exoplanetary system, created as the challenge scenario for NASA JPL’s 13th Global Trajectory Optimisation Competition (GTOC13). It shows the optimized sequence of planetary and small-body flybys, highlighting how a solar-sail spacecraft can choreograph a long-term robotic tour to unveil the system’s architecture and maximize scientific return.
For more details on the official problem statement and scoring, see the GTOC13 portal: gtoc.jpl.net/gtoc13/the-problem and ESA’s original competition hub: https://sophia.estec.esa.int/gtoc_portal/
This video visualizes the exploration campaign designed by ESA’s Advanced Concepts Team for the fictitious Altaira exoplanetary system, created as the challenge scenario for NASA JPL’s 13th Global Trajectory Optimisation Competition (GTOC13). It shows the optimized sequence of planetary and small-body flybys, highlighting how a solar-sail spacecraft can choreograph a long-term robotic tour to unveil the system’s architecture and maximize scientific return.
For more details on the official problem statement and scoring, see the GTOC13 portal: gtoc.jpl.net/gtoc13/the-problem and ESA’s original competition hub: https://sophia.estec.esa.int/gtoc_portal/
