International Cospas-Sarsat Programme

International Cospas-Sarsat Program

Established	1 July 1988; 36 years ago (1988-07-01) (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  Algeria**  Argentina**  Australia**  Brazil**  Canada*  Chile**  China***  Cyprus**  Denmark  Finland  France*  Germany  Greece**  India***  Indonesia**  Italy**  Japan**  Korea**  Malaysia**  Netherlands  New Zealand**  Nigeria  Norway**  Pakistan**  Peru**  Poland  Qatar**  Russia*  Saudi Arabia**  Serbia  Singapore**  South Africa**  Spain**  Sweden  Switzerland  Thailand**  Togo**  Tunisia  Turkey**  United Arab Emirates**  United Kingdom**  United States*  Viet Nam** Hong Kong, China, Marine Department** International Telecommunication Development Company (Taiwan)** *Party State, and Space- and Ground-Segment Provider **Ground-Segment Provider ***Space- and Ground-Segment Provider Additionally, although not State Participants, the European Union, through its Galileo Programme,[1] is a Space- and Ground-Segment Provider, and EUMETSAT is a Space-Segment Provider
Official languages	English French Russian
Head	Steven Lett (Head of Secretariat)
Council Chair (rotating)	Henrik Smith (Canada)
Website	www.cospas-sarsat.int www.406.org

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).^[2] 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.^[3][4][5] 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.^[6] Cospas-Sarsat was conceived and initiated by Canada, France, the United States, and the former Soviet Union in 1979.^[7] The first rescue using the technology of Cospas-Sarsat occurred on 10 September 1982; 41 years ago (1982-09-10).^[8][9] 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".^[10]