Cospas-Sarsat is the International Satellite System that detects and locates 406 MHz distress signals anywhere on Earth to rescue people in distress
Observed every 10 September, the Global Search and Rescue Day honours the search-and-rescue professionals, and especially the Mission Control Centre operators, who answer distress calls around the clock, all year long.
10 September marks the first rescue ever credited to the Cospas-Sarsat System in British Columbia, Canada in 1982
A small plane goes down in the forest with three people on board. Injured, they pull the emergency locator transmitter and its antenna from the wreck, set it up by hand and switch it on. That night, a passing satellite catches the signal and rescuers are guided straight to them. This first ever satellite-aided SAR event took place on 10 September 1982, which is why this date was chosen for the Day.
For more than 40 years, Cospas-Sarsat has linked satellites, ground stations and rescue authorities into a single global safety net. Here’s how a 406 MHz distress signal can travel from the most remote corner of the Planet to the people who can answer the call for help.
A beacon is activated, on a vessel, an aircraft or a person, sending a 406 MHz distress signal.
Satellites detect the signal, anywhere on Earth, within minutes.
A Mission Control Centre pinpoints the location and identifies the beacon.
Local rescue authorities are alerted, and the rescue begins.
Established in 1979 by Canada, France, the United States, and the Soviet Union, Cospas-Sarsat is the international satellite system for search and rescue, today a treaty-based intergovernmental Programme of 32 participating states and organization
LEO, MEO and GEO coverage
Every point on Earth’s surface
Alert time via MEOSAR
Internationally protected band
Cospas-Sarsat has a key essential role in GAADS of ICAO, GMDSS of IMO- for Saving lives in air and sea.
Cospas-Sarsat brings together 32 member States and organizations, working alongside international partners (ICAO’s GADSS, IMO’s GMDSS and ITU) so that a 406 MHz distress signal can travel to the people who can respond, anywhere on the planet.
Global Search and Rescue Day belongs to everyone the system protects. Find your way in.
Register your beacon. It takes minutes, and it’s the single thing that lets the system find you. Then follow the story all month long.
Mark the day with your own people. Host an event, share your operators’ stories, and use our ready-made social media toolkit to make it effortless.
Amplify the signal. One post from you reaches thousands who’d never otherwise hear it.
Our data and spokespersons are ready when you are. Reach out and we’ll get back to you quickly.
The system that has saved tens of thousands of lives isn’t standing still. Here’s what’s coming.
Until recently, sending a distress signal meant waiting in silence, hoping. Now a beacon can confirm your call was received and help is on the way, turning the longest minutes of someone’s life into a moment of certainty.
The newest beacons pinpoint a location more precisely and more quickly than ever, narrowing the search area, and the time, between a distress call and a rescue.
More satellites, more partners, more coverage. Every year, fewer places on Earth are out of reach.
Register your distress beacon. Share this day with the world. Together, we keep the Global SAR System strong.