A fast computational method for the landing footprints of space-to-ground vehicles

Fast computation of the landing footprint of a space-to- ground vehicle is a basic requirement for the deployment of parking orbits, as well as for enabling decision makers to develop real-time programs of transfer trajectories. In order to address the usually slow computational time for the determination of the landing footprint of a space-to-ground vehicle under finite thrust, this work proposes a method that uses polynomial equations to describe the boundaries of the landing footprint and uses back propagation (BP) neural networks to quickly determine the landing footprint of the space-to-ground vehicle. First, given orbital parameters and a manoeuvre moment, the solution model of the landing footprint of a space-to-ground vehicle under finite thrust is established. Second, given arbitrary orbital parameters and an arbitrary manoeuvre moment, a fast computational model for the landing footprint of a space-to-ground vehicle based on BP neural networks is provided. Finally, the simulation results demonstrate that under the premise of ensuring accuracy, the proposed method can quickly determine the landing footprint of a space-to-ground vehicle with arbitrary orbital parameters and arbitrary manoeuvre moments. The proposed fast computational method for determining a landing footprint lays a foundation for the parking-orbit configuration and supports the design of real-time transfer trajectories.