International Cospas-Sarsat Programme

The International Cospas-Sarsat Programme is a treaty-based intergovernmental search-and-rescue system formally established in 1988 by Canada, France, the United States, and the former Soviet Union. Its satellite, ground-segment, and mission-control network detects and locates distress signals from emergency beacons used by aircraft, vessels, and people, then distributes accurate and timely alert and location data to search-and-rescue authorities worldwide at no cost to those services. The Programme is governed by its Council and supported by a permanent Secretariat that coordinates international administration, technical documentation, conferences, liaison, and operations. Current participation includes the four Parties plus dozens of associated States and participating organizations.