24 November 2009
The 30th anniversary of the signing of the COSPAS-SARSAT Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was marked in October 2009 in Montreal. The multi-national search and rescue satellite aided tracking (SARSAT) system is credited with saving over 25,000 lives since it became operational in 1982.
In the mid-1970s, the Department of National Defence (DND) asked the Communications Research Centre (CRC) to explore the use of satellites to aid in search and rescue. Nations conducting similar research joined forces: France and the United States signed the SARSAT MOU with Canada in 1979, and the former Soviet Union with its COSPAS initiative, came on board later that year, resulting in the COSPAS-SARSAT program. COSPAS-SARSAT now involves 40 countries.
Read more at http://www.crc.gc.ca/en/html/crc/home/mediazone/whatsnew/nov23-27_09_1