Description

COSPAS-SARSAT is a satellite-based monitoring system that detects and locates emergency beacons. Professional operators then notify search-and-rescue (SAR) authorities. The beacons comply with internationally agreed standards for radio communication and identification of beacon owners.

COSPAS is an acronym for the Russian words "Cosmicheskaya Sistema Poiska Avariynyh Sudov", which translates to "Space System for the Search of Vessels in Distress". SARSAT is an acronym for Search And Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking.

The system consists of:

• Emergency beacons that transmit the distress signals;
• Satellites that detect the distress signals;
• Ground receiving stations that receive and process the satellite signals to generate distress alerts; and
• Mission Control Centers (MCCs) that receive the alerts and forward them to SAR bodies.

The emergency beacons supported today must operate at 406 MHz (processing of 121.5/243 MHz signals by COSPAS-SARSAT ceased on 1 February 2009). They can be used by: