Korea Coast Guard satellite distress system passed performance test verification 

July 09, 2024

International Search and Rescue Assistance Performance Test Passed Real-time Location…Narrow the error down to a few meters. 21st country to switch to ‘low orbit → mid-orbit satellite’

The satellite distress system, which the Korea Coast Guard switched from a low-orbit satellite to a medium-orbit satellite earlier this year, has been verified to meet international standards, and it has succeeded in joining the ranks of the orbital satellite distress system among international organizations’ approval.

The Korea Coast Guard (Director Kim Jong-wook) announced on the 9th that the satellite distress system operated by the Coast Guard passed the performance test verification of the Cospas Sarsat international organization on the 4th.

Cospas Salsat is an international organization that uses satellites and ground facilities to detect distress signals (beacons) and provide location to help search and rescue activities.

Currently, a total of 45 countries, including the United States, Russia, Canada, and France, have joined, and Korea joined for the 28th time in October 1995.

The Coast Guard satellite distress system allows the satellite to receive it and relay it to ground facilities to know the distress situation when a ship and aircraft send a distress signal using beacon equipment in an emergency.

The existing low-orbit satellite distress system takes about an hour to calculate the location, and the location error has reached a radius of 5km, which is inferior in accuracy. The detection range is only 20% of the Earth.

As a result, Cospas Salsat decided to convert the satellite distress system from a low-orbit satellite to a mid-orbit satellite, and the Coast Guard also pushed for a mid-orbit satellite conversion from 2015.

Switching the satellite distress system from a low-orbit satellite to a mid-orbit satellite enables real-time location calculation, and the location error can be narrowed to within a few meters of a radius. It is also possible to detect the entire planet.

The Coast Guard, which has been conducting mid-orbit satellite performance tests for about a year since early last year, temporarily joined the Cospas Salsat by switching to the initial operation stage in February, and was approved for full membership at the Cospas Salsat International Conference held last month.

Currently, 20 countries have switched their satellite distress systems from low-orbit satellites to mid-orbit satellites, and Korea has become the 21st country.

Korea’s mid-orbit satellite distress system, along with other countries’ satellite distress systems, is jointly used to respond to distress accidents occurring around the world.

Baek Hak-sun, director of the Korea Coast Guard’s Equipment and Technology Bureau, said, “The full integration of the maritime police’s mid-orbit satellite distress system into international organizations has improved the real-time detection and location accuracy of distress signals,” adding, “It is also meaningful to contribute to the international community by providing distress warnings at the humanitarian level.”