Scientists Discover New Fuel-Saving Route to the Moon

Travel to the Moon comes at a great cost, both monetary and in terms of fuel. The amount of propellant a spacecraft needs for its journey will increase launch costs and cut into payload space. For many years now, scientists have been using a trajectory approach to reach the Moon, which uses a very large amount of fuel. However, a research team from around the world has discovered a fuel-efficient path to the Moon that had never before been noticed.

Inside the New Study

The study, published in the journal Astrodynamics in April 2026 by researchers from the University of São Paulo and the University of Coimbra, used a technique called the theory of functional connections to reduce the computing power needed for complex orbital simulations. The team modelled 30 million different Earth–Moon trajectories, of which 280,000 are referenced in the paper. Rather than assuming that the shortest geometric path is the cheapest, the researchers applied a systematic analysis to explore non-obvious solutions — a methodology the authors say could be adopted widely in future mission planning.

Gravity's Counterintuitive Shortcut

Space is threaded with gravitational corridors shaped by the competing pulls of planets and moons, collectively known as the Interplanetary Transportation Network. The new research found that, rather than entering the Moon's gravitational "variate"—a natural trajectory leading to lunar orbit from its nearest point to Earth, approaching from the opposite side is more efficient. This counterintuitive path saves 58.8 meters per second of fuel over the previous best-known route and maintains uninterrupted communication with Earth — an advantage NASA's Artemis 2 mission lacked when its crew briefly passed behind the Moon.