SAR/GALILEO Return Link Service Evolutions: 2 Way Communication Service Prototype and Demonstration

Abstract

The European Commission has completed a study under the European Union Horizon 2020 research programme to investigate the opportunity for developing new services based on the Galileo Return Link Message. One of these services, subject of the paper proposed to the ION+ GNSS, is the two-way communication/messaging over Return Link. The messaging service is a SAR/Galileo service which may use both the Forward Link in the 406 MHz frequency band and the Return Link channels (L1 navigation frequency channel) to exchange messages between the rescue coordination centre (RCC) and the user for an active 406 MHz distress beacon. The messaging service is a mean to improve the situational awareness of a person in distress and can be beneficial in managing the rescue operation. It offers the RCC operator the possibility of sending instructions or collecting information on the on-going distress situation by contacting the beacon user directly: for instance, giving instructions to facilitate the rescue, obtaining information about the number of people to be rescued, the urgency of the situation, etc. Several applications for the two-way messaging are set out below, which can be used both in the aeronautical and maritime domain on condition that the person in distress has access to the beacon (survival, portable): ? To collect additional information on the on-going distress situation regarding the persons in distress, their immediate environment and their equipment; ? To guide the persons in distress to optimize the rescue operation: direct them to an area where they can be easily picked-up; ? To inform the persons in distress on how to behave to maximise their chances of survival; ? To confirm distress in case of manual activation (avoiding a false alert). The benefits of this service are to provide a better overview of the distress situation, and to facilitate rescue operations by reducing the time needed for the rescue and for the activation of the rescue services. In addition, this service could reduce the rate of false alerts, thereby avoiding unnecessary mobilization of rescue resources. The European Commission has launched a project named SERENITY under the Horizon 2020 research programme carried out by a consortium composed of Telespazio France, CNES, Thales Alenia Space France, Orolia, Pildo Labs, in order to develop beacon prototypes and perform a service demonstration. The SERENITY project will push forward the TWC service adoption with the provision of Mission/Service/Beacon requirements, the development of a beacon prototype and the set-up of the service demonstration involving the Beacon prototype and the SAR operational chain (SARR, MEOLUT, MCC …) to be disseminated towards the SAR community including the Cospas-Sarsat programme. The paper will present in detail the TWC service and the status of the SERENITY progress towards the end-to-end service demonstration scheduled in S1 2022.