Doc. No.: 85525 Rev. M
jotron.com
Page 14 of 48
5.2
Cospas-Sarsat system description
Cospas is an acronym for the Russian words Cosmicheskaya Sistyema
Poiska Avariynich Sudov, which means “Space System for the Search of
Vessels in Distress”. The Cospas-Sarsat system was introduced in 1982 as a
worldwide search and rescue system with the help of satellites covering the
earth’s surface. Between 1982 and 2018 alone this system has aided in
rescuing at least 48,738 individuals in 14,531 search and rescue situations.
Currently, the system consists of 5 functional satellites in a polar orbit
constellation, these satellites cover the entire earth’s surface and receive
the emergency signal from the 406 MHz transmitter within the Tron
60S/GPS, more polar orbiting satellites will be available in the future, giving
a faster location and rescue time.
In addition, several geostationary satellites are equipped with a 406 MHz
transponder. These satellites are not able to locate the Tron 60S/GPS but
will give an early warning to the rescue forces, minimizing the time from an
emergency occurs till the rescue forces are at the site.
Each EPIRB in the system is programmed with its own unique code,
therefore, it is vital that the ships data supplied to the dealer upon
purchase or when the Tron 60S/GPS was obtained is correct. It is also
important that the EPIRB is registered in the database for each country.
This database is normally located in the same country where the ship is
registered.
5.2.1
Signal detection
When a Tron 60S/GPS is activated (manually or automatically) it transmits
an analogue signal on the 121.5 MHz frequency and digital signal on the
406.037 MHz frequency. After the Tron 60S/GPS is activated, the next
passing satellite will detect the transmitted signal and relay it to an antenna
at a local user terminal (LUT) ground station.
