Astrosat and DroneSAR form partnership

Astrosat, one of the leading businesses in Europe’s space exploitation industry, has formed a partnership with Irish start-up DroneSAR- Search & Rescue, to incorporate drone software with Astrosat’s Recovery and Protection in Disaster (RAPID) system.

The RAPID system is designed to provide intelligent situational awareness and support in the context of disaster scenarios to aid, inform and support decisions that are made in the operational theatre.

Steve Lee, CEO of Astrosat, said: “DroneSAR’s technology will fit beautifully with our RAPID system. With RAPID’s ability to provide up-to-date mapping images in less than three hours, and the ability to interlace footage from drones, we are giving first responders the most detailed picture available.”

DroneSAR recently won the Copernicus Master Service Challenge European Space Week in Tallin, Estonia. Oisin McGrath, CEO and Co-Founder of DroneSAR, said: “The software, a result of 18 months of development with input from Search and Rescue (SAR) teams across the country, perfectly with the RAPID system.

“It allows first responders a greater depth of overview, through the addition of drone footage to the interface. We plan to integrate both platforms to give near-real-time satellite imagery to both unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) pilots and to Command & Control for better informed decision making”.

DroneSAR was developed through Donegal Mountain Rescue who were chosen as one of four European pilot tests sites by DJI, the market leader in consumer drone technology, and EENA the European Emergency Numbers Association. The software was refined based on the results of this project.

The company provides software that enables commercially available drones to maintain autonomous search patterns based on waypoint missions or user-defined search ‘boxes’, reducing risk to search personnel, improving situational awareness and increasing the chance of finding people in distress, all at a fraction of the cost of a SAR helicopter. It has a Share Location function, which allows pilots to instantly share locations to all team members as the drone flies.