On 10 September 2025, the world will celebrate the first Cospas-Sarsat Global Search and Rescue Day.
This date marks the anniversary of the first rescue using the Cospas-Sarsat satellite-aided tracking System in 1982. Since then, the System has helped save at least 70,000 lives in over 20,000 operations. For 43 years, no formal occasion has existed to honour those who make this humanitarian work possible. Global SAR Day will recognize the dedicated professionals who manage, monitor, and operate the System to ensure people return home safely.
The inaugural celebration in 2025 pays special tribute to the Mission Control Centres (MCCs) operators, whose expertise in tracking distress signals and help coordinating rescues is vital to saving lives worldwide.
Here’s how you can celebrate the day!
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If you share anything about Global SAR Day, we encourage you to use the hashtags #GlobalSARDay, #CospasSarsat, and #SearchandRescue.
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Background
The initiative to establish Cospas-Sarsat Global Search and Rescue Day was proposed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which also made a voluntary financial contribution to support the celebration of this special day. The proposal received the approval of the Cospas-Sarsat Council at its seventy-second Session in April 2025, marking an important milestone in recognizing the people behind the Programme’s lifesaving mission.
Global Endorsement
The intent is for this annual observance to gain broader international recognition. Efforts are now underway to secure endorsement by United Nations bodies, including the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), so that Global Search and Rescue Day is recognized as an official international occasion.
To raise global awareness for Cospas-Sarsat Global Search and Rescue Day, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has submitted a Working Paper to the 42nd ICAO General Assembly (23 September – 3 October 2025, Montreal, Canada), co-sponsored by the Cospas-Sarsat Programme.
Marking the Day
The Cospas-Sarsat Global Search and Rescue Day is dedicated to honoring the humanitarian contributions of all those involved in the Programme, with special appreciation for the Mission Control Centre (MCC) operators whose expertise helps save lives worldwide.
Celebrations will take place at MCCs and across national SAR networks worldwide.
To mark this occasion:
- All Administrations and their respective SAR networks are encouraged to organize seminars, technical discussions, and social gatherings that highlight the vital role of MCC operators.
- A specially designed poster will be displayed in MCCs, RCCs, and relevant offices to promote awareness of the Global SAR Day.
- In the lead-up to and during the celebration, the Programme has launched a social media campaign featuring stories of global impact. Participants are encouraged to follow the official accounts and repost and promote content within their networks.
- Communities can share stories, showcase rescues, and connect through social media to raise awareness of our life-saving mission.
- MCC operators will further receive specially designed tokens of appreciation.
- Participants are encouraged to shared pictures and videos of local events with the Cospas-Sarsat Secretariat to showcase the global nature of this celebration.
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The Story of the First Search and Rescue Event Assisted by the Cospas-Sarsat System
On 8 September 1982, a Cessna-172 searching for a missing aircraft in the remote mountains of northern British Columbia encountered worsening weather. At the controls were two pilots and a passenger whose son had been missing for more than seven weeks.
Flying back from Dease Lake to Dawson Creek over a mountain ridge, the Cessna-172 was suddenly faced with rapidly deteriorating weather and trapped below clouds. While following a river in a deep valley in the hope of reaching lower terrain, the crew faced a dead-end. The plane brushed the top of trees and crashed.
All three people survived the crash but were injured. Fortunately, they were able to extract the 121.5 MHz ELT and its antenna from the crashed aircraft and, after climbing with some effort to reach clear ground, set it up to operate.
The first Cospas satellite’s 121.5 MHz repeater had been turned on only a few days earlier by controllers from the USSR, after the satellite testing was completed. The ELT 121.5 MHz signal was relayed by the Cospas satellite repeater and received by the Canadian experimental receiving earth station (LUT) at the Communications Research Centre in Ottawa. Using the Doppler effect generated by the satellite passing in the vicinity of the beacon, the Cospas-Sarsat System determined a position for the source of the signal, which was soon passed to the Trenton Air Force Rescue Coordination Centre.
For the first time ever, Cospas-Sarsat data was used to task SAR resources, in this case a Canadian Buffalo military transport, to search for people in distress. With the position data, the Buffalo crew located the crash site the next morning, and two paramedics parachuted in to assist the wounded men.
The survivors were amazed that they had been found so quickly after the crash as their location was off the initial planned track. Without the Cospas-Sarsat data, several days and many flight hours would have been required to find them, assuming the ELT signal was detected by overflying aircraft and reported to SAR authorities.
This incident marked the first rescue supported by the Cospas-Sarsat satellite system, beginning a legacy that has since saved tens of thousands of lives worldwide.
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Social Media Campaign
The Cospas-Sarsat Secretariat has launched a social media campaign to raise awareness of the International Cospas-Sarsat Programme and promote the upcoming Global Search and Rescue Day. The campaign will run over the next several months.
Downloadable Poster (English, French, Russian): https://cospas-sarsat.int/images/cospas_sarsat/pdf_uploads/GlobalSARDay/GlobalSARDay2025Poster.zip
We invite all participants to like, share, and repost to help spread the word.
Message of congratulations: ICAO
