NOAA and Federal Science Programs

NOAA reports that the U.S. segment of the Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT) system helped save 300 people in and around the United States in 2025, including 183 pulled from the water, 47 in aviation incidents and 70 in land emergencies. The agency highlights cases such as a corporate jet that slid off the runway into Coos Bay, Oregon, a stranded skier with frostbite in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, and two sailors and their dog rescued from a sinking catamaran 60 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, after their 406 MHz distress beacons triggered satellite alerts. Florida saw the most rescues at 71, followed by Alaska with 28 and Wyoming with 21, underscoring how boaters, pilots and backcountry users rely on registered emergency beacons to get their coordinates to rescuers when radios and phones fail. NOAA says the international SARSAT constellation, which began operating in 1982, has supported more than 63,000 rescues worldwide and over 11,190 in the U.S., and it continues to urge mariners and outdoor travelers to carry properly registered 406‑MHz beacons instead of older, less reliable devices. The annual data release offers one of the clearest snapshots of how federal satellite infrastructure quietly underpins U.S. search‑and‑rescue operations across oceans, airspace and remote terrain.