A roundtrip mission to Mars, whether manned or unmanned, presents a great number of engineering challenges in all fields of the mission architecture. In particular, the human exploration of Mars is widely considered to be the next great frontier for space engineering. The hurdles of this type of mission vary largely, from space medicine to the project of a vehicle able to leave the Mars surface. The choice of the parking orbits around Mars, which is the subject of this thesis, is fundamental too, as it needs to ensure Mars capture and escape of the spacecraft, with the minimal expense of propellant.