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

Rene W. Fleron

doi:10.1155/2019/8428167

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

Rene W. Fleron^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

297 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The CubeSat DTUsat-2 was designed and built by students and faculty at the Technical University of Denmark and launched to low earth orbit on June 2014. Its mission was to aid ornithologists in bird migration research. Shortly after launch and orbit injection, it became apparent that all was not nominal. To understand the problem and find the causes, a forensic investigation was initiated. The investigation used recorded Morse-encoded beacons emitted by the satellite as a starting point. This paper presents the real-life data from DTUsat-2 on orbit and the methodologies used to visualize the key element in the investigation, namely, the correlation between orbit position and the beacon counter. Based on the data presented, an explanation for the observed behaviour of DTUsat-2 is given.

Original language	English
Article number	8428167
Journal	International Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume	2019
Number of pages	12
ISSN	1687-5966
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/8428167
Publication status	Published - 2019

Bibliographical note

Copyright © 2019 René W. Fléron. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Access to Document

10.1155/2019/8428167

8428167Final published version, 21.1 MB

OpenUrl availability

Full text

Cite this

@article{266dca6013be4d3fbfecf3f44fbf46f2,

title = "Satellite Forensics: Analysing Sparse Beacon Data to Reveal the Fate of DTUsat-2",

abstract = " The CubeSat DTUsat-2 was designed and built by students and faculty at the Technical University of Denmark and launched to low earth orbit on June 2014. Its mission was to aid ornithologists in bird migration research. Shortly after launch and orbit injection, it became apparent that all was not nominal. To understand the problem and find the causes, a forensic investigation was initiated. The investigation used recorded Morse-encoded beacons emitted by the satellite as a starting point. This paper presents the real-life data from DTUsat-2 on orbit and the methodologies used to visualize the key element in the investigation, namely, the correlation between orbit position and the beacon counter. Based on the data presented, an explanation for the observed behaviour of DTUsat-2 is given.",

author = "Fleron, {Rene W.}",

note = "Copyright {\textcopyright} 2019 Ren{\'e} W. Fl{\'e}ron. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.",

year = "2019",

doi = "10.1155/2019/8428167",

language = "English",

volume = "2019",

journal = "International Journal of Aerospace Engineering",

issn = "1687-5966",

publisher = "Hindawi Publishing Corporation",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Satellite Forensics: Analysing Sparse Beacon Data to Reveal the Fate of DTUsat-2

AU - Fleron, Rene W.

N1 - Copyright © 2019 René W. Fléron. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - The CubeSat DTUsat-2 was designed and built by students and faculty at the Technical University of Denmark and launched to low earth orbit on June 2014. Its mission was to aid ornithologists in bird migration research. Shortly after launch and orbit injection, it became apparent that all was not nominal. To understand the problem and find the causes, a forensic investigation was initiated. The investigation used recorded Morse-encoded beacons emitted by the satellite as a starting point. This paper presents the real-life data from DTUsat-2 on orbit and the methodologies used to visualize the key element in the investigation, namely, the correlation between orbit position and the beacon counter. Based on the data presented, an explanation for the observed behaviour of DTUsat-2 is given.

AB - The CubeSat DTUsat-2 was designed and built by students and faculty at the Technical University of Denmark and launched to low earth orbit on June 2014. Its mission was to aid ornithologists in bird migration research. Shortly after launch and orbit injection, it became apparent that all was not nominal. To understand the problem and find the causes, a forensic investigation was initiated. The investigation used recorded Morse-encoded beacons emitted by the satellite as a starting point. This paper presents the real-life data from DTUsat-2 on orbit and the methodologies used to visualize the key element in the investigation, namely, the correlation between orbit position and the beacon counter. Based on the data presented, an explanation for the observed behaviour of DTUsat-2 is given.

U2 - 10.1155/2019/8428167

DO - 10.1155/2019/8428167

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1687-5966

VL - 2019

JO - International Journal of Aerospace Engineering

JF - International Journal of Aerospace Engineering

M1 - 8428167

ER -

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

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Access to Document

OpenUrl availability

Fingerprint

Cite this