Galileo Search and Rescue Service (Galileo SAR RLS) celebrates five years of service - and thousands of saved lives! As the commissioner Kubilus emphasized at the European Space Conference last week, Galileo helps save 2000 lives every year, Increasing your influence as a key component of space emergency services.
RLS, Launched in 2020 year, is an innovative service, which is given exclusively Galileo, adding a feedback message to the Galileo search and rescue service (SAR) in response to an SOS transmission from compatible beacons. Galileo SAR contributes to global life-saving efforts by rapidly relaying beacon distress signals to appropriate authorities using dedicated payloads on board Galileo satellites supported by a distributed ground segment, strategically deployed throughout Europe.
SAR RLS takes this a step further, sending messages to SAR users via the Galileo navigation signal in space, which results in automatic confirmation of the transmission of the distress signal. This visual confirmation means, that the distress signal was accurately determined, and emergency response teams are informed.
The RLS service is not only unique, but also extremely reliable. In fact, the continuous monitoring of Galileo SAR and the feedback service confirmed, that the service was available 99,99% time, and that the Galileo RLS system requires on average 37 seconds, to deliver automatic confirmation to activated beacons, as observed by the Galileo control beacons.
SAR Galileo is fully integrated into the COSPAS-SARSAT system, an international satellite system for detecting disaster alerts and disseminating information. This is a free service, which offers global coverage at sea, in the mountains, in the desert and in the cities. To use it, only a compatible COSPAS-SARSAT RLS beacon is required.
According to the relevant estimates, thanks to the full contribution of Galileo SAR, Cospas-Sarsat can save over 3000 lives per year.