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.
