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Personal Satellite Rescue System

COSPAS-SARSAT - Global Satellite Rescue System

SEARCH & RESCUE SATELLITES

Low-Earth Orbiting Search And Rescue (LEOSAR) Satellites, And Geostationary Orbiting Search And Rescue (GEOSAR) Satellites Make Up The COSPAS-SARSAT Search & Rescue System.

• Low-Earth Orbiting Search And Rescue (LEOSAR) Satellites

  • NOAA Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites (POES) – known as ‘SARSAT’

  • Russian Nadezhda Satellites – known as ‘COSPAS’

The keystone to the Cospas-Sarsat System are the low-earth orbiting (LEO) satellites from which the system takes its name. These satellites provide the ability to detect and locate 406 MHz alerts worldwide and 121.5 MHz alerts for about sixty percent of the world.

• Geostationary Orbiting Search And Rescue (GEOSAR) Satellites

  • NOAA Geostationary Orbiting Environmental Satellites (GOES)

  • ISRO Indian National Satellite (INSAT)

  • ESA Metosat Second Generation (MSG)

    As you can see from this image taken from the GOES-East satellite, geostationary satellites are capable of continually viewing large areas of the Earth.  These geostationary (GEO) satellites are also able to provide immediate alerting and identification of 406 MHz beacons.  The GEO satellites are unable to determine a location for a beacon.  They can, however, provide immediate alerts to the reception of a beacon signal.  This is a valuable tool for SAR personnel since it allows them to begin their initial verification of the alert using the National 406 MHz Beacon Registration Database.  Often this detective work yields a general location of the vessel or aircraft in distress and SAR assets can be readied or dispatched to that general area.  Ideally, a SARSAT or COSPAS (LEO) satellite will fly over the beacon within the next hour and calculate a Doppler location which will be given to the SAR personnel who may already be in route.

Two Important Considerations:

First, a GPS-equipped beacon only works when the receiver has a clear view of the sky in order to permit the receiver to self-locate.  Often times, conditions do not permit this which may either distort the positional accuracy or negate it altogether.  Because of this, the Cospas-Sarsat System relies upon the Doppler locating effect as the primary means for locating a beacon.  This process is able to overcome the limitations of a GPS unit and still generate a fairly accurate location…within a mile for positional accuracy.

Secondly, the GEOSAR component only works if the beacon is registered with NOAA.   Without registration, the RCCs are unable to react as quickly…and ultimately this may delay a SAR response should you be in an emergency.  If you have a 406 MHz beacon and have not registered it, please do so by clicking here to access the National 406 MHz Registration Database.

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