Trajectory Simulation of the Small Atmospheric Re-entry Module

Atmospheric re-entry module is a part of a spacecraft, which is separated from the spacecraft, de-orbits, re-enters into the Earth atmosphere, and descents to the Earth surface. In this paper, 3-DOF flight trajectory of a small re-entry module is simulated to design its separation position and Earth landing point. The estimation of the landing position is important the safety and recover reason. The configuration of the re-entry module is assumed to be compatible with the STSAT series spacecraft. Various models, such as atmosphere, gravitation, and flight dynamics are applied to simulate the re-entry module trajectory under the design-to assumptions of re-entry module propulsion and attitude control performances