RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation will host a regional meeting in Jeddah on Monday to discuss search and rescue missions empowered by satellite technology.

The meeting will take place over four days, from Feb. 24 to 27, and will feature training workshops for teams from search and rescue centers in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Algeria, Nigeria, and Togo.

Saudi Arabia has been at the forefront of rescue missions in the region and has integrated satellite search tools for aircraft, ships, and people, which were set up by the International Cospas-Sarsat Programme, also known as Cospas-Sarsat.

The Kingdom was one of the first countries in the Middle East to join the Cospas-Sarsat initiative, established in 1979 by Canada, France, the US, and the former Soviet Union, to operate satellite technology for rescue missions.

Representatives from the Saudi Arabian Mission Control Centre, along with authorities involved in rescue missions, such as the Air Force, the Border Guards, and the Ministry of Interior’s security services, will participate in the meeting.

Participants will discuss the technical and operational aspects of deploying satellites to relay alerts of distress cases, as well as aspects of cooperation in search and rescue services between regions, the Saudi Press Agency reported.