NOAA Satellites Aid in 411 Rescues in 2024
The same NOAA satellites that followed the moon’s shadow along the path of the Total Solar Eclipse and tracked Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024, also helped rescue 411 people from life-threatening situations in the U.S. and its surrounding waters last year.
NOAA’s polar-orbiting and geostationary satellites are part of the global Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking system, or COSPAS-SARSAT.
The system uses a network of U.S. and international spacecraft to detect and locate distress signals sent from 406MHz emergency beacons onboard aircraft, boats and handheld Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) anywhere in the world.
Since its start in 1982, COSPAS-SARSAT has been credited with supporting more than 50,000 rescues worldwide, including more than 10,871 throughout the U.S. and the waters that surround it.
Of the 411 U.S. rescues last year, 318 people were pulled from the water, 41 were saved from aviation incidents and 52 were rescued on land. The record one-year total for SARSAT rescues in the U.S. remains at 421, set in 2019.
Florida had the most people rescued with 122, followed by Alaska with 56 and Hawaii with 31.
When a NOAA satellite pinpoints the location of a distress signal in the U.S., the information is relayed to the SARSAT Mission Control Center at NOAA’s Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Maryland. From there, the information is quickly sent to Rescue Coordination Centers, operated either by the U.S. Air Force for land rescues, or the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) for maritime rescues. NOAA also supports rescues globally by relaying distress signal information to international COSPAS-SARSAT partners.