- Why in news
- On October 7, 2026, Raksha Rajya Mantri Sanjay Seth inaugurated SAREX-2026, to be held off Paradip on October 8. He also noted that India's MEOLUT has reached full operations capability, and the 24th NMSAR Board met the same day.
- What it is
- MEOSAR is the satellite-aided search and rescue system in which distress beacons are detected by receivers on satellites in Medium Earth Orbit. Ground stations called Local User Terminals (LUTs) process these signals to locate the beacon. It is part of the international Cospas-Sarsat system, which provides distress alerts to rescue authorities. SAREX is India's multinational maritime search and rescue exercise run by the Indian Coast Guard.
- Evolution of India's system
- India's satellite-aided search and rescue moved from LEOSAR to GEOSAR and is now moving towards MEOSAR.
- MEOLUT
- The Indian MEOLUT has achieved full operations capability, a step ISRO is credited with.
- Indian Search and Rescue Region
- The NMSAR Board reviewed preparedness across the 4.6 million sq km Indian Search and Rescue Region.
- NMSAR Board
- The Director General of the Indian Coast Guard chairs the National Maritime Search and Rescue Board.
- SAREX-2026 scope
- A multi-agency exercise with 32 delegates from 30 foreign nations observing, aimed at preparedness and interoperability.
- Cospas-Sarsat
- Cospas-Sarsat is an international humanitarian programme that detects distress beacons through satellites and passes locations to rescue authorities.
Don’t confuse with LEOSAR vs GEOSAR vs MEOSAR: LEOSAR uses low polar-orbit satellites, GEOSAR uses geostationary satellites with fixed view, and MEOSAR uses medium-orbit navigation satellites for wider coverage and faster detection.
Don’t confuse with LUT vs MEOLUT: A Local User Terminal is a ground station for processing beacon signals; MEOLUT is the type that works with MEOSAR satellites.
Science and technology: 57 Prelims questions since 2013; most test the concept behind the news, not the news itself. In Mains, 12 news-triggered questions.
Why it matters
- Faster and more accurate distress location improves saving of lives at sea across India's large search and rescue region.
- Multinational exercises build interoperability and regional maritime cooperation.
Problems
- Coordinating many agencies (Navy, Coast Guard, ports, civil agencies) needs real-time information sharing.
- Large ocean area and varied vessel types make timely response difficult.
Way forward
- Integrate MEOSAR alerts with vessel tracking and inter-agency systems.
- Hold regular joint exercises and apply lessons from past missions.
Put in your answer
Whole-of-Government approach: Maritime security needs coordinated action by Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, coastal police, ports and civil agencies, not one agency.
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UPSC’s own questions that come close to this issue, from our Prelims and Mains banks.
No practice question for this one; the card may still help an answer. Why: Concept of LEOSAR, GEOSAR, MEOSAR and India's MEOLUT is testable, but UPSC has little track record on this; the exercise itself is routine.
Worth revising until Prelims 2028: most news questions come within two years of the event.