Satellite Tracking

N2YO (n2yo.com) is a satellite tracking and prediction website that provides real-time positions and orbital predictions for thousands of objects in Earth orbit — satellites, space stations, space debris — using publicly available two-line element (TLE) data from the US Space Force's space object catalog.

For OSINT investigators, satellite tracking has direct investigative applications related to remote sensing, communications intelligence, and surveillance awareness.

Commercial satellite overpass prediction is the primary investigative application. When investigators need to know when a commercial imaging satellite (Planet Labs, Maxar, Airbus OneAtlas) will photograph a specific location, N2YO's pass prediction for known satellite orbits informs planning. Combined with satellite imagery ordering, this allows investigators to anticipate when new imagery of a specific location will be collected.

Surveillance awareness using N2YO's predictions allows investigators to identify when foreign reconnaissance satellites with known imaging capabilities will pass over specific locations. This is relevant for operational security planning — understanding when overhead collection may observe specific activities.

For incident investigation involving claims about satellite imagery, N2YO can verify whether specific commercial imaging satellites were in a position to have captured imagery of a specific location at the claimed time — corroborating or contradicting claims about imagery provenance.

Communication satellite analysis helps investigators understand which satellites provide connectivity in specific regions — relevant for investigations involving internet access, satellite phone use, or data exfiltration through satellite channels.

ISS tracking through N2YO provides pass times for the International Space Station, which is relevant for imagery captured from ISS observation — N2YO confirms when ISS was over specific locations.

Document satellite names, NORAD catalog numbers, orbital parameters, and specific pass times predicted for locations of investigative interest.