ICAO, which is a United Nations specialized agency created the Global Aeronautical Distress Safety System (GADSS) largely in response to the loss of flights AF447 and MH370. GADSS contains Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPS) that establish what is expected of airlines and aircraft operators for tracking aircraft in normal conditions as well as when an aircraft is in distress.

The normal aircraft tracking SARPs are applicable starting November 2018 and establish the air operator’s responsibility to track its aircraft throughout its area of operations. Operators are expected to receive positions at least once every 15 minutes whenever air traffic services cannot do so.

The SARPs relating to the location of an aircraft in distress become applicable in January 2021 and establish the requirement for automatically tracking aircraft in distress with position updates at least once-per-minute. With GlobalBeacon, airlines are able to leverage existing technology to exceed both sets of SARPs.