The Cospas-Sarsat Secretariat is the administrative body of the International Cospas-Sarsat Programme, the distress beacon detection system. More than 33,000 people have been rescued from plane crashes, sinking ships and wilderness mishaps over thirty years, through cooperation among more than 40 governments in the International Cospas-Sarsat Programme.
Steven was in Canberra before travelling to Cairns to attend the Cospas-Sarsat Experts' Working Group on Second-Generation Beacons. The working group has been engaged in considering the future designs and features of distress beacons since 2010.
Steven outlined progress on the Medium-altitude Earth Orbit Search and Rescue (MEOSAR) satellite system that will be replacing the existing aging satellite system used by Cospas-Sarsat, as well as discussing challenges presented to Cospas-Sarsat by alternative technologies.