Briefing
Short notes on the work. The long write-up lives in the Technology Report.
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September 1, 2026
SOLION-100
Furuno and Iridium put Iridium’s satellite distress service, plus ship security and tracking, in one terminal. Retrofit units are expected late 2026.
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August 31, 2026
sMRT SHIELD+
Wescom is showing a 406 MHz personal beacon that also calls ships nearby and can show the wearer that the satellite heard the call. An EPIRB version is scheduled for 2027.
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July 14, 2026
SAR4SaR
New Zealand researchers put the first manufactured Glint radar-reflector prototype on a Hauraki Gulf buoy. It folds, has no battery, and is meant to make a small boat show up in a satellite picture.
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June 2026
LunaSAR
Researchers reported a prototype that carried voice and text on the 406 MHz distress channel. LunaSAR is a Safety from Space, SmartSat, and NASA research path, not a catalog product.
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May 25, 2026
LOC8
Coconino County’s sheriff’s office uses Loc8 to scan drone search photos pixel by pixel for a clothing color. Deputy Paul Clifton told Arizona’s Family the review can drop from thousands of images toward about twenty — his estimate.