The goal of the
Search and Rescue Mission
Office is to develop
technology to help
save lives and property,
reduce SAR costs and risks
to SAR personnel.

+ Beacon Development
+ Cospas-Sarsat
+ Emergency Beacons
+ L-SAR
+ SAR²
+ SARLab
+ SEDL

The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Search and Rescue (SAR) Mission Office was formed in the 1970's under the oversight of NASA Headquarters' Space Communication Division. It is the only NASA office to support the National Search and Rescue Plan, and serves as the designated agency to perform Search and Rescue Research and Development (R&D) in an effort to meet search and rescue needs.

Some of the major roles of the SAR Mission Office include:

To provide technical support to NOAA and other Federal agencies in their operation and use of the international Cospas-Sarsat satellite based search and rescue system. The Search and Rescue Mission maintains a facility called the System Evaluation and Development Laboratory (SEDL), which assists, in much of this technical support.

To develop enhancements to the satellite-based search and rescue support systems.

To apply aerospace technology to search and rescue needs.
To be an active citizen of the search and rescue community.

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