The invention discloses a covariant initial value determination method for the optimal landing track design and belongs to the field of deep space exploration. The covariant initial value determination method includes building a small body fixing coordinate system and corresponding detector landing kinetic equations; converting the optimal design problem of the small body landing track into the optimal control problem and the corresponding two-point boundary value problem, and defining the problems as the problem 1; approximating the problem 1, and defining the approximated problem 1 as the problem 2; solving the covariant initial values lambda and lambda of the problem 2, setting the the covariant initial values lambda and lambda of the problem 2 as iterative initial values of the covariant initial values lambda and lambda of the problem 1, determining the iterative initial value of the covariant initial value lambda of the problem 1 according to the setting of the iterative initial values, namely lambda and lambda, of the covariant initial values lambda and lambda of the problem 1, thereby achieving the iterative initial value setting of the covariant initial values for the optima landing track design. The defect that it is difficult to solve the two-point boundary value problem due to improper initial value setting can be avoided by application of the method.