McMurdo to enhance U.K. coast guard's search-and-rescue technology

March 2 (UPI) -- Orolia subsidiary McMurdo secured a contract to enhance existing search-and-rescue technology for the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the company announced Thursday.

Under the contract, the company will work to enable U.K. search-and-rescue workers to operate using the new Medium-altitude Earth Orbit Search and Rescue satellites, or MEOSAR, currently being deployed.

Work will include one year of installation and training, and three years of additional support. McMurdo says it will equip the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, or MCA, with a new MEOSAR-capable mission control center. The new asset will collect distress signals and route them to appropriate rescue coordination centers.

"This nationwide satellite system upgrade will provide unparalleled precision, timing and decision support data to UK search and rescue teams," Oriola business development chief Chris Loizou said in a press release. "We are proud to support the UK MCA with world-leading technology developed through our forty-year history of innovation."

MEOSAR satellites are designed to pick up distress signals in nearly real time. McMurdo notes existing technologies can take as long as two hours to do the same task. Once operational, the satellites will coordinate with people in distress, search-and-rescue teams and various government agencies.

In addition to MEOSAR upgrades, McMurdo will also install ground-level Medium Earth Orbit Local User Terminals, which the company says will allow the MCA to locate distressed individuals using activated beacons.