International Cospas-Sarsat Programme
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.
| Established | 1 July 1988 (Date definitive agreement was signed; preceding memorandums of understanding signed 23 November 1979 and 5 October 1984) |
|---|---|
| Type | Intergovernmental organization |
| Legal status | Active |
| Headquarters | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
Membership | 45 Formally associated "Participant" states and agencies
|
Official languages | English French Russian |
Head | Steven Lett (Head of Secretariat) |
Council Chair (rotating) | Mark Turner (United States) |
| Website | www www |
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 former Soviet Union in 1979. The first rescue using the technology of Cospas-Sarsat occurred on 10 September 1982. 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 System for the Search of Vessels in Distress", and SARSAT, an acronym for "Search And Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking".