Termination Settings

The termination settings are a key parameter in the propagation of a body’s orbit, since these will determine the computational time and the size of the output file. Depending on the application, the user may want to end the body propagation according to different criteria. The PropagationTerminationSettings object is a mandatory input argument necessary to create propagation settings.

Simulation time

The simulation stops once a certain simulation time has passed.

For more information, see the API reference entry: time_termination().

Note

The simulation time is expressed in seconds after a reference epoch (1st January 2000) and not after the initial time of the simulation.

CPU time

The simulation stops once a certain CPU time has passed. This is useful to make sure that the propagation does not exceed a certain computation time.

For more information, see the API reference entry: cpu_time_termination().

Dependent variable

The simulation stops once a dependent variable meets a given criterion. The termination variable can be any dependent variable listed in Dependent Variables (where the way to create those is also explained). Such variable, together with the limit value, can be used as lower or upper boundary.

For more information, see the API reference entry: dependent_variable_termination().

Custom function

The simulation stops once a user-defined function returns True.

For more information, see the API reference entry: custom_termination().

Hybrid

The simulation stops once multiple criteria are met. It may be possible that the user desires to terminate a propagation according several criteria, where such criteria may or may not be fulfilled simultaneously.

For more information, see the API reference entry: hybrid_termination().

Tip

When using a dependent variable as termination condition, it is advised to also include a (cpu) time termination condition to ensure that your simulation will terminate.