Entry aeromaneuvering capabilities of transatmospheric vehicles

The landing footprint of a conceptual high-lift transatmospheric vehicle is defined for aeromaneuvering entry from a typical low-earth orbit. The flight strategy for trajectory construction to maximize the landing area by extending downrange and crossrange as far as possible is developed in four phases by optimal programming of the vehicle's roll angle. Trajectories that reach any given landing site were calculated with the corresponding heating rates at three critical vehicle locations (stagnation point, wing leading edge, and body centerline). An optimization methodology was developed that demonstrates the trades between crossrange, peak heating and total heat loads as a function of three key flight parameters (altitude, flight-path angle, and vehicle roll angle). The maximum extent of the landing footprint was found to be 29,690 km downrange and 6560 km crossrange. Large variations in the ballistic coefficient had negligible effect on the extent of the footprint but could significantly affect heating. However, the footprint's longitude was displaced downstream or upstream with increasing or decreasing ballistic coefficient, respectively.