On Wednesday the 14th and Thursday the 15th of November 2018, the First SAR/Galileo Annual Service Provision Workshop was held at the “Zenon” Coordination Center. The workshop attended representatives of the European Union (EU), the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency (GSA), the SAR/Galileo Data Service Provider, France, Norway, Spain, Italy, Portugal, United Kingdom and Denmark, while the Republic of Cyprus was represented by the JRCC and Cyta.

The aim of the workshop was to evaluate the level of the provision of the data collected by the SAR/Galileo Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellites to the SAR services, for the detection and localization of Cospas-Sarsat distress radiobeacons. The system consists of 3 MEO Local User Terminals (LUT – earth satellite stations) stationed in Cyprus, Spain and Norway and they distribute the detected beacons’ data to the associated Mission Control Centers (MCC).

The Cyprus Mission Control Center (CYMCC) is located at the JRCC and it is expected to be commissioned in Cospas-Sarsat network in 2019.

The participation of the RoC to the SAR/Galileo system it’s of great importance while the upcoming commissioning of the CYMCC and its contribution to the efficient operation of the C-S network, will upgrade the role of the JRCC and the Republic of Cyprus, in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, as well as in the global SAR community.