McMurdo and ViaLite Join Forces for Search and Rescue Application

ViaLite Communications is helping McMurdo with their latest Search and Rescue application.

ViaLite is providing RF optical and Digital Data links for use at a ground station in Algeria, which is used to operate search and rescue applications (MEOSAR beacon system). ViaLite is also providing customized ViaLite ODE-B outdoor enclosures to house the RF and Digital Data links.

The ODE-B enclosures are located close to each antenna to minimize cable loss and the links fed into a sheltered Earth Station over fiber to a rack-based chassis system.

ViaLite is also providing demonstration equipment for product qualification, system design and application support. The company was chosen for the project based on its technical expertize and high performance products, given the critical nature of the application. Further to the application being successfully installed, McMurdo has ordered additional ViaLite systems for a new project.

McMurdo provides the world’s first end-to-end search and rescue ecosystem. Its solutions have been at the core of the Cospas-Sarsat satellite-based search and rescue system since its inception in 1982, and have been instrumental in helping to save over 40,000 lives.

Gary Wade, ViaLite Product Manager, said: “The ODE-B was originally developed for the Galileo ground segment for Telemetry Tracking and Control (TT&C) from launch. We are really pleased to be involved in a practical use of Galileo saving lives.”