Ibadan, 19 January 2023. – Thales Alenia Space has signed a contract with prime contractor App works to provide Thailand with a complete Search and Rescue (SAR) operational system based on the COSPAS-SARSAT MEOSAR Service.
The solution will enable the detection and locating of distress signals from COSPAS-SARSAT beacons on land, in the air, and at sea instantaneously, over a radius of 2,500 km centered around Bangkok, mainly using the Galileo satellite positioning system. This solution also includes the delivery of a Mission Control Centre (MCC) dedicated to managing and distributing alerts and a Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) to manage all search-and-rescue activities for armed forces, coastguards, sea rescue, and other services.
According to the release, Thales Alenia Space’s innovative Medium Earth Orbit Local User Terminal (MEOLUT) Next product, which employs a phased array antenna, will give Thailand unrivaled performance. The MEOLUT Next solution, with its compact antennas taking up less than 6 square meters, tracks up to 30 satellites, will significantly enhance distress beacon detection and expand coverage.
Furthermore, MEOLUT Next can detect distress signals up to 5,000 km away. On the other hand, conventional MEOLUT systems rely on six large parabolic antennas covering an area about the size of a football field. They can only receive signals from six satellites (one per antenna). Additionally, the primary users of COSPAS-SARSAT (USA, Canada, France, the European Union, and Togo) already use the solution.
“This is the first contract to deploy our MEOLUT Next solution in Asia, which is now present on the four continents of the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia,” said Benoit Broudy, Vice President, Navigation at Thales Alenia Space in France. “Thales Alenia Space sees space as a new horizon, helping humankind to build a better, more sustainable life on Earth. Saving lives ties in with our company’s aspirations, as demonstrated by our contribution to COSPAS-SARSAT Search and Rescue services.”
