The International Cospas-Sarsat Programme is a satellite-aided search and rescue (SAR) initiative. It is organized as a treaty-based, nonprofit, intergovernmental, humanitarian cooperative of 45 nations and agencies (see infobox). It is dedicated to detecting and locating emergency locator radio beacons activated by persons, aircraft or vessels in distress, and forwarding this alert information to authorities that can take action for rescue. Member countries support the distribution of distress alerts using a constellation of around 65 satellites orbiting the Earth which carry transponders and signal processors capable of locating an emergency beacon anywhere on Earth transmitting on the Cospas-Sarsat frequency of 406 MHz. Distress alerts are detected, located and forwarded to over 200 countries and territories at no cost to beacon owners or the receiving government agencies. Cospas-Sarsat was conceived and initiated by Canada, France, the United States, and the Soviet Union in 1979. The first rescue using the technology of Cospas-Sarsat occurred on 10 September 1982 (1982-09-10). The definitive agreement of the organization was signed by those four states as the "parties" to the agreement on 1 July 1988. The term Cospas-Sarsat derives from COSPAS (КОСПАС), an acronym from the transliterated Russian "Космическая Система Поиска Аварийных Судов" (Latin script: "Cosmicheskaya Sistema Poiska Avariynyh Sudov"), meaning "Space-based System for Locating Vessels in Distress", and SARSAT, an acronym for "Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking".
Background Cospas-Sarsat is best known as the system that detects and locates emergency beacons activated by aircraft, ships and people engaged in recreational activities in remote areas, and then sends these distress alerts to search-and-rescue (SAR) authorities. Distress beacons capable of being detected by the Cospas-Sarsat System (currently 406-MHz beacons) are available from several manufacturers and vendor chains. Cospas-Sarsat does not make or sell beacons. Between September 1982 and December 2023 the Cospas-Sarsat System provided assistance in rescuing at least 63,745 people in 19,883 SAR events. In 2023 Cospas-Sarsat on average assisted in the rescue of almost nine persons each day. In 2021, 2022 and 2023 (the latest years for which statistics have been compiled), Cospas-Sarsat assistance included the following:
These statistics under-count the number of events where Cospas-Sarsat assisted, because they only include cases when an accurate report from SAR personnel is provided back through reporting channels to the Cospas-Sarsat Secretariat. Cospas-Sarsat does not undertake search-and-rescue operations. This is the responsibility of national administrations that have accepted responsibility for SAR in various geographic regions of the world (typically the same geographic area as their flight information region). Cospas-Sarsat provides alert data to those authorities. Cospas-Sarsat cooperates with United Nations-affiliated agencies, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), among other international organizations, to ensure the compatibility of the Cospas-Sarsat distress alerting services with the needs, the standards and the applicable recommendations of the global community. Cospas-Sarsat is an element of the IMO's Global Maritime Distress Safety System (GMDSS), and is a component of ICAO's Global Aeronautical Distress and Safety System (GADSS). The IMO requires automatic-activating Cospas-Sarsat beacons (EPIRBs, see below) on all vessels subject to requirements of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (so-called SOLAS-class vessels), commercial fishing vessels, and all passenger ships in international waters. Similarly, ICAO requires Cospas-Sarsat beacons aboard aircraft on international flights, as well as the ability to track such aircraft when in distress (see "Beacons" under "System architecture" below). National administrations often impose requirements in addition to the international requirements of those agencies. Cospas-Sarsat only monitors for alerts from digital distress beacons that transmit on 406 MHz (so-called 406 beacons). Older beacons that transmit using the legacy analog signal on 121.5 MHz or 243 MHz rely on being received only by nearby aircraft or rescue personnel. For satellite reception of alerts by Cospas-Sarsat the beacon must be a model that transmits at 406 MHz. Cospas-Sarsat has received many honors for its humanitarian work, including induction into the Space Foundation's Space Technology Hall of Fame for space technologies improving the quality of life for all humanity.
System operation
The system consists of a ground segment and a space segment that include:
Distress radio-beacons to be activated in a life-threatening emergency SAR signal repeaters (SARR) and SAR signal processors (SARP) aboard satellites Satellite downlink receiving and signal processing ground stations called LUTs (local user terminals) Mission control centres (MCCs) that distribute to rescue coordination centres distress alert data (particularly beacon location data) generated by the LUTs Rescue coordination centres (RCCs) that facilitate coordination of the SAR agency and personnel response to a distress situation.
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