Modernised satellite system to assist Aussie beacon owners in distress
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), in cooperation with Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) has awarded a substantial contract to enhance the regional search and rescue satellite system used to detect emergency distress beacons.
AMSA Chief Executive Officer Mick Kinley said McMurdo Groups Techno-Sciences, Inc (TSi) has been selected to establish a next-generation Medium-altitude Earth Orbit Search and Rescue (MEOSAR) capability in Australia and New Zealand, following a rigorous tender process.
The ten-year Australian contract provides for installation and maintenance of a six-antenna MEOSAR ground station in Western Australia and a Mission Control Centre in Canberra. Installation is expected to take 15 months.
Australians are the biggest per capita users of distress beacons in the world, with more than 300,000 beacons registered, Mr Kinley said.
The modernised MEOSAR satellite distress beacon detection system will allow AMSA to detect beacon activations in a more timely manner.
The MEOSAR system will replace the Low-altitude Earth Orbit Search and Rescue (LEOSAR) satellite system, which will be phased out in coming years under international arrangements.
Once fully operational the MEOSAR system will reduce beacon detection times from hours under the current system, to within 10 minutes, 95 per cent of the time.
AMSA is continually looking to take advantage of new technology in its search and rescue system and the MEOSAR system will allow AMSA to detect and respond to beacon activations more effectively, Mr Kinley said.
Australia and New Zealands MEO Local User Terminals (MEOLUTs) or satellite tracking ground stations will work cooperatively to achieve overlapping coverage of Australia and New Zealands Search and Rescue Regions.
This offers a high degree of resilience in the event of a system outage that would be expensive for either country to achieve alone, Mr Kinley said.
AMSA is pleased to continue this collaborative regional approach with New Zealand, which allows a data feed from the NZ MEOLUT to the Mission Control Centre in Canberra, which immediately relays information to Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand in the event of a beacon activation in the New Zealand Search and Rescue Region.
About MEOSAR |
MEOSAR stands for Medium-altitude Earth Orbit Search and Rescue. A satellite in a medium-altitude earth orbit has an altitude between 19,000 and 24,000km. The MEOSAR system consists of MEOSAR satellites that detect emergency distress beacons (EPIRBs, PLBs and ELTs). The satellite sends the beacon message back to earth where it is detected by a MEOLUT (MEOSAR Local User Terminal). With sufficient information, the MEOLUT will generate a location for the distress beacon. The beacon activation information is forwarded to a Mission Control Centre (MCC) and then to the relevant Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) which responds to the beacon activation. |
About MEOLUT |
A MEOLUT (MEOSAR Local User Terminal) is a satellite tracking ground station. The MEOLUT has a number of antennas, each antenna tracks a different MEOSAR satellite. If a MEOLUT receives a burst from a distress beacon from three or more satellites, it is able to calculate the location of the beacon. |
Source: AMSA