U.K. Maritime, Coastguard Agency Signs 3-year $2-M Contract with EMS Satcom

OTTAWA, Canada, May 23, 2005/Satnews Daily/ ― U.K.’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has signed a three-year maintenance contract with EMS Satcom’s EMS Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ – ELMG), Emergency Management Products Group (EMPG), to ensure the U.K. COSPAS-SARSAT ground-segment infrastructure, a vital part of the UK Search and Rescue (SAR) system, will be maintained at the highest level.

EMS said the lifecycle and mission-critical support contract is worth approximately $2 million over three years.

Steven Edgett, vice president, EMS Satcom Management Products Group said the project is another opportunity for the company to demonstrate its leadership in the SAR field by providing the most up-do-date software with the latest features, and the timeliest support to the MCA’s mission-critical operations. “Our commitment helps keep our customers and their operations at the forefront of COSPAS-SARSAT technology,” he said.

Under the terms of the contract, EMS Satcom will provide 24x7 lifecycle and mission- critical support to the MCA’s existing SAR systems over a three-year period.

MCA’s system includes a COSPAS-SARSAT low earth orbit (LEO) satellite ground earth station, a geostationary (GEO) satellite ground earth station, and a back-up mission control center (MCC) and provides services to the Royal Air Force’s SAR operations, in the case of system failure.

GEO satellite ground-earth stations provide early notification of potential distress, which allows SAR authorities to begin investigating the alert and to more effectively co-ordinate rescues. LEO satellite ground earth stations receive and processes distress alerts detected by COSPAS-SARSAT satellites, and determine location, then process and forward data to the MCC in Kinloss, U.K., operated by the Royal Air Force for distribution to SAR response forces.

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