Abstract: A new concept of dynamic reentry footprint was presented to ensure the reentry of the spacecraft safely and accurately. Concerned with all the given flight states and the constraint conditions of the spacecraft during the whole reentry flight process, the maximum reachable area on the earth surface can be calculated by the given numerical algorithm. Combined with the dynamic reentry numerical algorithm, the modified genetic algorithm was applied to optimize the reentry flight trajectories, and all the qualified trajectories which constitute the landing footprint can be calculated. Through a series of reentry flight numerical simulations, the characteristics of dynamic reentry footprint was summarized, which can be used to optimize the guidance and flight trajectory.

Key words: Dynamic reentry footprint, Trajectory optimization, Genetic algorithm, Spacecraft