United Nations/ Australia Workshop on the Cospas-Sarsat International Satellite Aided Search and Rescue Program

16 May 2005

Canberra, Australia
14-18 March 2005

Background

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority is responsible for the management and operation of the Australian ground segment of the Cospas-Sarsat system. Distress signals are detected and relayed back to the Rescue Coordination Centre in Canberra, through ground receiver stations located at Albany, Western Australia; Bundaberg, Queensland; and Wellington, New Zealand. With mandatory carriage requirements for emergency distress beacons for certain types of marine vessels and aircraft, usage of the Cospas-Sarsat system is growing rapidly. In the Oceania region, Australia and New Zealand currently participate in the Cospas-Sarsat System by providing Mission Control Centres (MCC’s) and ground segment equipment. While many nations have established effective SAR services, many have not tapped into the tremendous value that Cospas-Sarsat can provide. There is, therefore, an urgent need for capacity building in terms of education, training and policymaking to enable nations in Oceania to appropriately benefit from these services.

Workshop

A closed workshop on the International Cospas-Sarsat satellite aided search and rescue program was held from 14 - 18 March 2005. The workshop, one of a series of regional workshops, was cosponsored by the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and was held at the Rydges Lakeside Hotel, Canberra.

The primary objectives of the Training Course were to promote an awareness of the International Cospas-Sarsat Satellite-Aided Search and Rescue Program and to establish a formal interface with the user countries for better understanding and coordination of the program activities and operations within the Oceania region.

Over the five days the workshop program provided an overview of the Cospas-Sarsat system including discussion on distress beacons, the space and ground segments involving the LEOSAR and GEOSAR satellite systems, ground stations and mission control centres.

For further information about this particular workshop contact AMSA.

Future Workshops

Information on future workshops can be obtained from the UNOOSA through their Website at: http://www.oosa.unvienna.org.