iSSAR

Innovative System for Search And Rescue 

Global Search and Rescue (SAR) operations quickly locate and help people in distress. Thanks to the SAR/Galileo service, it is possible to do so in a very fast and efficient way, making the position of people in distress known to relevant authorities in the shortest time possible. 

Since January 2020, when the Return Link Service (RLS) was declared operational, SAR/Galileo has enabled the provision, on top of the distressed-user’s location information, of a fully automatic acknowledgement message back to the user informing them that their request for help has been received. 

As a consequence, efforts have been set in place to develop solutions, illustrating the benefits and stimulating the investment in such Galileo differentiators, consequently increasing the European industry knowledge, innovation capacity and market positioning in this field.  

Within this context, the Innovative System for Search and Rescue (iSSAR) project was set into place, with the final goal of developing of a unique Distress tracking Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT-DT) beacon, ready to be certified by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). 

The iSSAR project developed a first-generation ELT-DT beacon that implements Galileo’s Return Link Service for SAR.

The automatic activation functionalities and whose design were partly based on “ELITE”, the proprietary Survival ELT beacon which has been in September 2017.

The output of the project was the delivery of the first and unique market-ready ELT beacon with built-in GNSS device (Galileo/GPS) ready for certification and commercialisation. 

Challenge and technical solution

The prototype developed within the iSSAR project integrates a First-Generation Beacon (FBG) signal modulation, with a dual-frequency transmitter (406 MHz for the distress signal/121.5 MHz for the location of the beacon during the rescue operations). As a result, the iSSAR beacon enables to offer a set of features that enhance reliability, cost-efficiency, and safety, as well as compliant to the ICAO requirements for certification.