Satellite Forensics: Analysing Sparse Beacon Data to Reveal the Fate of DTUsat-2

Figure 11

DTUsat-2 is in a Sun-synchronous orbit with a LTAN of 10:30 AM; thus, the orbital plane vector remains locked with respect to the Earth-Sun direction vector. It is the Earth-Sun direction vector that determines time on Earth, thus knowing satellite pass start time enables determination of orbit azimuth, which is used to map out the beacon count numbers.