SARSAT A Spot

SARSAT

 

Helping save lives

SARSAT A Spot
SARSAT A Spot

The SARSAT instruments on Metop help search and rescue authorities save thousands of lives around the world.

Last Updated

06 May 2022

Published on

27 May 2020

What is Sarsat?

Sarsat-13 on Metop-B comprises of SAR signal Repeaters (SARR) and SAR signal Processors (SARP-3). Note: Metop-C does not have the Search and Rescue capability.

The Sarsat instruments on the Metop satellites, flying in low Earth orbit (LEO) and known as LEOSAR, receive messages from emergency beacons, coordinated by the COSPAS-SARSAT programme. They are downlinked to the distress terminals — known as Local User Terminals (LUT) — distributed around the globe. The message are then processed and distress alerts generated. The Mission Control Centres (MCC) receive those alerts and relay them to the appropriate Rescue Control Centre (RCC), which begins the actual search and rescue operation.

Under COSPAS-SARSAT, EUMETSAT also provides search and rescue transponders on the Meteosat Second Generation geostationary satellites.