McMurdo Group’s Techno-Sciences Inc. will improve the way emergency distress beacon signals are picked up and passed on to rescue authorities. Two new satellite receiving stations will be built, one near Taupo and the other in Western Australia, along with a new mission control centre in Canberra, to pick up signals from medium-Earth orbit search and rescue (MEOSAR) satellites.
MEOSAR satellites (orbiting at around 20,000km above the Earth) are replacing the current low-Earth orbit (LEOSAR) satellites (orbiting between 800-1000km), which are being phased out over the next four years. Existing beacons, of which there are 46,000 registered in New Zealand, will not be affected by the change. Six satellite dishes will be built at New Zealand site, located mid-way between Taupo and Rotorua, with construction scheduled to be completed by the end of 2015.
The receiving station is expected to be commissioned towards the end of 2016 and operational by 2017. The New Zealand contract is made up of $7.2m for construction of the receiving station and $5.5m in operating costs over the next 11 years. There are currently 16 MEOSAR satellites orbiting Earth, compared to five LEOSAR satellites, meaning beacon signals will be received more quickly and beacon locations identified with greater accuracy.
This will further improve over the next five years as the number of MEOSAR satellites is expected to increase to more than 50, ensuring several satellites will be in view at all times from anywhere on Earth.
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