Cospas-Sarsat is an international, humanitarian search and rescue system
that uses satellites to detect and locate emergency beacons carried by
ships, aircraft, or individuals. The system consists of a network of
satellites, ground stations, mission control centers, and rescue
coordination centers.
When an emergency beacon is activated, the signal is received by a
satellite and relayed to the nearest available ground station. The ground
station, called a Local User Terminal, processes the signal and calculates
the position from which it originated. This position is transmitted to a
mission control center where it is joined with identification data and
other information on that beacon.The mission
control center then transmits an alert message to the appropriate rescue
coordination center based on the geographic location of the beacon. If the
location of the beacon is in another country's area of responsibility, then
the alert is transmitted to that country's mission control center.
The Cospas-Sarsat system provides a tremendous resource for protecting
the lives of aviators and mariners that was unthinkable prior to the
Space-Age. With a 406 MHz beacon, a distress message can be sent to the
appropriate authorities from anywhere on Earth 24 hours a day, 365 days a
year.
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