UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency Selects McMurdo for Latest Search and Rescue Satellite Technology
Orolia, through its McMurdo brand, the most trusted name in emergency readiness and response, announced today that it was awarded a critical contract by the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) for nationwide enhancements to their existing Search and Rescue (SAR) satellite technology. Enhancements will enable the MCA to operate with the new Medium-altitude Earth Orbit Search and Rescue (MEOSAR) satellites that are being deployed now. The contract includes one year of installation and training, followed by an additional three years of service and support. With this contract award, McMurdo is the worldwide market leader in MEOSAR installations.
Based in Portsmouth, the McMurdo UK team offers the proximity and expertise required to deliver rapid response to customer needs. System design and development will be completed at Orolia’s world-leading MEOSAR engineering center at the Americas Headquarters facility in the Washington, D.C. area while local deployment and support will be provided by the Portsmouth office. The company will equip the UK MCA with a new MEOSAR-capable McMurdo mission control center to serve as the central control system that collects distress signals and routes them to the appropriate rescue coordination center. When fully operational, the upgraded MEOSAR system is expected to dramatically improve the speed and location accuracy for detecting emergency distress beacons.
The company will also install innovative Medium Earth Orbit Local User Terminals (MEOLUT) and upgrade LUTs, or ground stations, that operate on the GEOSAR and LEOSAR satellite constellations for comprehensive program support. The combination will enable the UK MCA to find individuals by their activated distress beacons using the most reliable system on the market today.
“This nationwide satellite system upgrade will provide unparalleled precision, timing and decision support data to UK search and rescue teams,” said Chris Loizou, Chief Business Development Officer of Orolia. “We are proud to support the UK MCA with world-leading technology developed through our forty-year history of innovation.”
“The Maritime and Coastguard Agency continually seek opportunities to further advance our search and rescue service delivery and reputation,” said Richard Parkes, Director of Maritime Operations. “McMurdo’s MEOSAR-enabled mission control center and ground stations will provide the highest caliber technology and performance to support our SAR personnel, enabling us to provide mariners in distress with better response operations to save even more lives.”
About McMurdo
McMurdo (www.mcmurdogroup.com), an Orolia brand, is a global leader in emergency readiness and response, with the only end-to-end solutions for search and rescue (SAR) and maritime domain awareness. Half of the world’s SAR satellite ground infrastructure has been installed by McMurdo, and McMurdo has manufactured 25 percent of the world’s 500,000 registered beacons. Hundreds of customers around the world—including NASA, NOAA, the U.S. Coast Guard and others in the aerospace, defense and government sectors—have trusted McMurdo to prevent emergencies, protect assets and save more than 40,000 lives since 1982.
About Orolia
Orolia (www.orolia.com) is the world leader in resilient positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) solutions that improve the reliability, performance and safety of customers’ critical, remote or high-risk operations. Through its leading Kannad, McMurdo, Sarbe, Spectracom and Spectratime brands, Orolia has more than 400 employees and sales presence in over 100 countries worldwide. Leading organizations including Airbus, NASA, Thales and Raytheon rely on Orolia for fail-safe GNSS and PNT products and solutions for their mission critical needs. Founded in 2006, Orolia has a global presence with offices in China, France, Russia, Switzerland, Singapore, India, the U.K. and the U.S.A.
About the Maritime & Coastguard Agency
The United Kingdom Maritime & Coastguard Agency (UK MCA) (www.gov.uk/government/organisations/maritime-and-coastguard-agency) works to prevent the loss of life on the coast and at sea, producing legislation and guidance on maritime matters and certification to seafarers. The UK MCA provides a 24-hour maritime search and rescue service around the UK coast, and international search and rescue through HM Coastguard. Headquartered in Southampton, the agency has offices and co-ordination centres around the UK coast.
For European Press:
Pippa Treavett or Sophie Foyle
ADPR on behalf of McMurdo
Tel: +44 (0)1460 241641
pippa@adpr.onmicrosoft.com / sophie@adpr.co.uk
For U.S. Government and Defense Press:
Jennifer Hewitt
Boscobel Marketing Communications, Inc. on behalf of McMurdo
Mobile: +1 571-388-8671
jhewitt@boscobel.com
