Million dollar SAR contract
Search and Rescue (SAR) specialist, Techno-Sciences, Inc (TSi), has been chosen by the Governments of Cyprus, Brunei, Argentina and NASA to deploy its SAR network and next-generation Medium Earth Orbit Search and Rescue (MEOSAR) systems.
The contracts totalling nearly US$5m will be completed over the next five years and include the deployment of a 6-channel MEOSAR system in South America, a 2-channel MEOSAR extension in the US and Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) software for a European and Asian SAR authority.
Jean-Yves Courtois, CEO of Orolia and McMurdo Group, said: “We are excited to work with the governmental bodies and rescue authorities of these countries to provide advanced SAR solutions that will expedite the rescue process and save more lives.”
In a typical search and rescue scenario, a distress beacon signal is relayed via satellite to mission control centres and rescue coordination centres for rescue team deployment. McMurdo Group provides the satellite ground stations and software solutions for these centres.
TSi, which was acquired by McMurdo Group in May 2014, has been instrumental in the development of the COSPAS-SARSAT international satellite-based SAR programme, which has helped to save nearly 37,000 lives worldwide since 1982.
The company has been actively involved in MEOSAR, the next-generation COSPAS-SARSAT system, which McMurdo said will greatly improve the existing SAR process with near-instantaneous detection, identification and location of emergency distress beacons.
MEOSAR, currently in its demonstration and evaluation phase, is expected to have initial operational capability in 2016 and full capability by 2018.
By Anne-Marie Causer
