SAT406M · Project

Wrist-Worn Satellite Distress Beacon That Monitors Health and Speeds Up Maritime Rescue

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Imagine you're out at sea and something goes wrong — you fall overboard or your boat capsizes. Right now, emergency beacons are bulky devices you have to grab and activate. This project built a wristwatch-sized beacon that automatically sends your GPS location to rescue satellites AND nearby ships, while also monitoring your vital signs so rescuers know your condition before they arrive. It even saves battery by turning down its signal once it gets confirmation that help is on the way — like your phone switching to low-power mode when the message is delivered.

By the numbers

998,375

EUR EU funding for development

industry partners across 3 countries

total project deliverables

SMEs in the consortium

100%

industry partner ratio

The business problem

What needed solving

Maritime workers and recreational sailors face a critical safety gap: current personal emergency beacons are bulky, provide only location data, and have no way to confirm that a distress signal was received. When someone falls overboard in rough seas, rescue teams arrive blind — they don't know the person's physical condition, and the victim has no idea if help is coming. Every minute of uncertainty costs battery life and reduces survival chances.

The solution

What was built

The project built a wrist-worn Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) integrating a 406MHz satellite beacon with marine DSC radio, an enhanced MEOLUT ground station with increased data throughput, and a physiological monitoring application. Concrete deliverables include a PLB engineering model and a MEOLUT-PLB demonstration system, plus 5 additional deliverables across 7 total.

Audience

Who needs this

Marine electronics manufacturers (e.g., ACR, McMurdo, Ocean Signal)National maritime rescue coordination centres and coast guardsOffshore oil and gas operators managing crew safetyCommercial shipping companies with man-overboard prevention programsRecreational marine safety equipment distributors

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Maritime Safety Equipment

SME

Target: Marine electronics manufacturers producing personal safety devices

If you are a marine electronics company dealing with the challenge of making emergency beacons smaller and smarter — this project developed a wrist-worn PLB integrating a 406MHz Cospas-Sarsat beacon with DSC transceiver that communicates with both SAR satellites and nearby ships equipped with VHF radios. The device saves battery power by controlling transmission power and repetition rate upon receiving acknowledgments. The consortium of 3 industry partners across 3 countries built both a PLB engineering model and a MEOLUT-PLB demonstration.

Search and Rescue Operations

enterprise

Target: National maritime rescue coordination centres and coast guard agencies

If you are a rescue coordination centre dealing with limited information about a person in distress — this project developed an enhanced MEOLUT ground station with increased data throughput that receives not just location but also the user's physiological status. The Return-Link-Service confirms to the person in distress that their signal was received, reducing panic and battery drain. The MEOLUT enhancement could potentially become a standard for the SAR community.

Professional Maritime and Offshore

enterprise

Target: Offshore energy operators and commercial shipping companies managing crew safety

If you are an offshore operator dealing with crew safety in remote waters — this project built a wrist-worn device that combines satellite distress signaling with DSC marine radio compatibility, meaning distress calls reach both SAR satellites and nearby vessels simultaneously. The integrated physiological monitoring lets your operations centre know a crew member's condition in real time. The project produced 7 deliverables including a working PLB engineering model.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to license or integrate this beacon technology?

The project received EUR 998,375 in EU funding as an Innovation Action, indicating significant development investment. The coordinator MOBIT TELECOM holds a patent on the mathematical method for increased data throughput used in the PLB. Licensing terms would need to be negotiated directly with MOBIT TELECOM.

Is this ready for industrial-scale production?

The project produced a PLB engineering model and conducted a MEOLUT-PLB demonstration, indicating the technology reached working prototype stage. The objective explicitly states the PLB is 'an innovative PLB to be introduced to the marine market,' suggesting the design targets mass production. However, full manufacturing scale-up would require additional industrialization steps.

Who owns the intellectual property?

MOBIT TELECOM holds a patent on the mathematical method for controlling PLB transmission power and repetition rate. The consortium of 3 partners across Israel, Spain, and France likely shares IP according to their grant agreement. Thales Alenia Space contributed MEOLUT expertise, and GeoNumerics developed the physiological monitoring algorithms.

Does this comply with maritime safety regulations?

The PLB is designed to be 406MHz Cospas-Sarsat compatible, which is the international satellite-based search and rescue system. It also integrates Digital Selective Calling compatible with marine VHF radios, following existing maritime communication standards. The MEOLUT enhancement was developed with the goal of potentially becoming a standard for the SAR community.

What is the project timeline and current status?

The project ran from February 2015 to January 2018 and is now closed. Over 3 years, the consortium delivered 7 deliverables including the PLB engineering model and MEOLUT-PLB demonstration. Any commercialization efforts since project end would need to be confirmed with the coordinator.

How does this integrate with existing maritime safety infrastructure?

The system was specifically designed for compatibility with existing infrastructure — it uses the standard 406MHz Cospas-Sarsat frequency and works with existing marine VHF/DSC radios on nearby ships. The enhanced MEOLUT ground station builds on existing satellite ground infrastructure. The Return-Link-Service leverages the Galileo satellite constellation's unique capability.

Consortium

Who built it

This is a compact, fully industrial consortium — 3 partners from 3 countries (Israel, Spain, France) with zero universities or research institutes, which is unusual and signals strong commercial intent. The coordinator MOBIT TELECOM is an Israeli SME that holds the core patent and built the existing SAT406 beacon. Thales Alenia Space (France) brings heavyweight satellite ground station expertise for the MEOLUT enhancement. GeoNumerics (Spain) is an SME specializing in navigation algorithms that developed the physiological monitoring component. With 2 out of 3 partners being SMEs and a 100% industry ratio, this consortium was clearly built to deliver a market-ready product, not publish papers.

MOBIT TELECOM LTDCoordinator · IL
GEONUMERICS SLparticipant · ES
THALES ALENIA SPACE FRANCE SASparticipant · FR

How to reach the team

MOBIT TELECOM LTD is an Israeli SME — contact through their company website or via SciTransfer for a facilitated introduction.

Order a report on this consortium See MOBIT TELECOM LTD profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore licensing this wrist-worn beacon technology or the enhanced MEOLUT ground station? SciTransfer can arrange a direct introduction to the development team.

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