The first switch-on of a Galileo SAR package functions well and
marks a major extension of the space-based Cospas-Sarsat
network. The second pair of Galileo satellites is the first of
the constellation to host Search and Rescue (SAR) repeaters
which can pickup UHF signals from emergency beacons aboard ships
or aircrafts and relay them to local authorities for rescue. The
international SAR system is accountable for saving about 31,000
lives over more than three decades. Further SAR payloads will
follow these first two into orbit with the launches of follow-on
Galileo Final Operational Capability satellites. - Galileo is
the name of the European Satellite Navigation programme. -
Cospas is a Russian acronym for ‘Space System for the Search of
Vessels in Distress’. - Sarsat is an acronym for ‘Search and
Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking’