406 Day: celebrating Galileo saving lives

Stranded sailors in liferaft use an emergency position-indicating radiobeacon (EPIRB) to call for help – © GSA

Today is 406 Day – the annual campaigning day to spread awareness of the importance of emergency beacons, and the satellites that pick up their signals, including Europe’s Galileo constellation. As well as letting people across the world find their way, Galileo also serves to detect SOS messages and relay them to authorities, contributing to saving many lives.