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MEOSAR PROGRAMME
Presented by
Christine Macmillian
Australian Maritime Safety Authority
Response
Overview
What is MEOSAR?
Why MEOSAR?
How does MEOSAR work?
What is the status of MEOSAR?
How will MEOSAR affect the Pacific?
An incident with MEOSAR data
What is MEOSAR?
The Cospas-Sarsat beacon detection system is an
international system for beacon detection

Current satellite constellations: New satellite constellation:

 LEOSAR (Low-altitude Earth Orbit  MEOSAR (Medium-altitude
SAR) Earth Orbit SAR)
 GEOSAR (Geostationary SAR)
The Cospas-Sarsat System
How does the COSPAS SARSAT
system work in Australia?
1. Distress beacon activated
2. Signal & HEX ID is transmitted and detected by the
nearest satellite overhead
3. Alert sent to nearest LUT
4. Alert is processed by nearest MCC. If registered,
registration details are provided to the JRCC in the
country in which the beacon is both activated and
registered. If the beacon is activated in the Australian
SRR, the details are forwarded to AMSA’s JRCC in
Canberra.
5. The JRCC is notified and begins to arrange search
and rescue operation. If your beacon is registered,
AMSA will ring emergency contacts immediately for
information regarding your whereabouts.
6. SAR authorities commence search operations as
soon as they can.
Why MEOSAR?
 Reduced time to detect and locate a beacon

 95% of beacons detected within 10

minutes with accuracy within 5 kms

 Better location accuracy (not yet demonstrated in

practice)
How does MEOSAR work?
What is the status of MEOSAR?
 United States and France are only countries currently
commissioned by Cospas-Sarsat for MEOSAR.
 The United States has MEOLUTs at Hawaii and Florida.
These MEOLUTs will detect and locate beacons in the
Pacific.
 MEOSAR alerts are being sent to RCCs in addition to
current LEOSAR and GEOSAR alerts.
/TO: NCRCC
/MEOSAR data forwarded by the AUMCC to NCRCC
1. DISTRESS COSPAS-SARSAT UPDATED DOA POSITION MATCH Messages currently
2. MSG NO. 58344 USMCC REF 32263
3. DETECTED AT 10 MAY 17 1917 UTC BY MEOSAR
4. DETECTION FREQUENCY 406.0249 MHZ
being sent by the United
5. COUNTRY OF BEACON REGISTRATION 576/VANUATU
6. USER CLASS - EPIRB MARITIME USER ID 519000 States
7. EMERGENCY CODE - NONE
8. POSITIONS
CONFIRMED - NIL
DOPPLER A - NIL
DOPPLER B - NIL
DOA - 04 33.1S 081 12.5W EXPECTED ACCURACY UNKNOWN
ALTITUDE 17 METRES
ENCODED - NIL
9. ENCODED POSITION PROVIDED BY: NIL
10. NEXT PASS / EXPECTED DATA TIMES
CONFIRMED - NIL
DOPPLER A - NIL
DOPPLER B - NIL
DOA - MEOSAR DATA USUALLY SENT WITHIN 5 MINUTES
ENCODED - NIL
11. HEX ID C808174334D34D1 HOMING SIGNAL 121.5
12. ACTIVATION TYPE - AUTOMATIC OR MANUAL
13. BEACON NUMBER ON AIRCRAFT OR VESSEL NO. 0
14. OTHER ENCODED INFORMATION
BEACON MANUFACTURER AND MODEL - UNKNOWN
15. OPERATIONAL INFORMATION
SOURCE (MCC OR USA LUT): 3669/FL-MEO
MEOSAR ALERT LAST DETECTED AT 10 MAY 17 1918
16. REMARKS - NIL
Australia-New Zealand collaboration

Source: Australia-NZ Cooperative MEOSAR System Ground Segment Report by SSAI

(Larry LeBeau) November 2010
 Status in New Zealand

Six antenna New Zealand MEOLUT in Goudies Road, North Island

 Status in Australia

Six antenna Australian MEOLUT in Mingenew, Western Australia

How will MEOSAR affect the Pacific?
 When the Australian/NZ system is
commissioned, MEOSAR data will be sent to
Pacific countries combined with the existing
LEOSAR and GEOSAR data.

 The New Zealand MEOLUT will provide

excellent coverage for the South Pacific.
/00773 00000/5030/17 130 2048
1. DISTRESS COSPAS/SARSAT INITIAL ALERT
2. MSG NO: 00755 AUMCC REF: C808174334D34D1 - 83964 Changes to the
3. DETECTED AT: 10 MAY 2017 2047 UTC BY MEOSAR
4. DETECTION FREQUENCY: 406.025 MHZ
5. COUNTRY OF BEACON REGISTRATION: 576/VANUATU
message to RCCs
6. USER CLASS: MARITIME 519000
7. EMERGENCY CODE: N/A
8. POSITIONS:
CONFIRMED - NIL
DOPPLER A - NIL
DOPPLER B - NIL
DOA - 04 33.8S 081 14.2W EXPECTED ACCURACY 006 NMS
ALTITUDE 16 METRES
ENCODED - NIL
UPDATE TIME UNKNOWN
9. ENCODED POSITION PROVIDED BY: NIL
10. NEXT PASS / EXPECTED DATA TIMES:
CONFIRMED - NIL
DOPPLER A - NIL
DOPPLER B - NIL
DOA - NORMALLY DISTRIBUTED EVERY (15) MINUTES
ENCODED - NIL
11. HEX ID: C808174334D34D1 HOMING SIGNAL: 121.5
12. ACTIVATION TYPE: MANUAL
13. BEACON NUMBER ON AIRCRAFT OR VESSEL: 0
14. OTHER ENCODED INFORMATION: NIL
15. OPERATIONAL INFORMATION: NIL
16. REMARKS: NIL
Updates
 By default, the new MEOSAR system will
send updates every 15 minutes.

 An RCC should expect to receive many

more alerts. In a recent incident, the
Australian JRCC received 113 MEOSAR
messages over 20 hours.

 The default can be changed to not send

updates every 15 minutes.
Preparation in the Pacific
 See most recent version of Cospas-Sarsat
document C/S G.007 “Handbook for RCCs”
(www.cospas-sarsat.int in the Documents
section).
Questions
Do RCCs (PNG, Solomon Islands, Fiji,
New Caledonia and NZ) want updates
every 15 minutes?

How will RCCs forward alerts to relevant

authorities?
Timelines
December 2016 -
 USMCC and FMCC sending MEOSAR data

July 2017 –
 AUMCC commissioned, sending MEOSAR
data merged with LEOSAR and GEOSAR
An incident with MEOSAR data
• 23 April 2017 in NZ. JRCC NZ received
MEOSAR alerts for a beacon associated with a
group of three trampers (hikers). A rescue
helicopter was tasked. One member of the party
had an injury requiring hospital treatment.

• MEOSAR provided a time advantage of 1 hour

and 29 minutes compared with LEOSAR.
Rescue of the “Val”
• 40 foot ketch, 200 NM East of Sydney
• MEOSAR provided a location 1 hour and 12
minutes before LEOSAR.
• 2 persons were rescued after a police rescue
vessel travelled overnight to reach the “Val”.
Thank You