2. Saving lives: Galileo to the rescue

Galileo’s main purpose is to provide exceptional navigation services, but did you know it also contributes to assisting rescue operations and saving lives?

Galileo is automatically activated in most EU countries when one calls 112 from a mobile phone and also helps locating people involved in car accidents across the continent thanks to eCall.

Moreover, Galileo satellites can pick up signals from emergency beacons on ships, planes or carried by people and relay the alert and precise location to national rescue centres. According to the latest performance data, in 2022 Galileo assisted approximately 1400 people within EU territories.

One of Galileo’s unique features is its innovative return link: within a few minutes after a person in distress activates the emergency beacon, Galileo notifies them that the signal has been received, boosting their morale while they wait for assistance.

And Galileo is not standing still: to provide even more life-saving support, a new service will soon allow national civil protection authorities to alert and send instructions to follow during an emergency to a precise population target. The service will use the return link function which can reach any smartphone capable of processing Galileo signals regardless of the mobile network, including in rural regions with poor or no mobile signal.