The system is treaty-based, intergovernmental. Its official name is COSPAR-SARSAT. The sensors are on global meteorological satellites under the WMO. It is an element of the IMO's Global Maritime Distress Safety System (GMDSS).Ideally looking for an international organization that would be the regulatory function or even an official government website.
The official COSPAR-SARSAT website is International Cospas-Sarsat Programme - International COSPAS-SARSAT.
On a page of that site you'll find:
A 406-MHz beacon designed for use in an aircraft is known as an Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT). One designed for use aboard a marine vessel is called an Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB). And one that is designed to be carried by an individual is known as a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB). Sometimes PLBs are carried aboard aircraft or vessels, but you must check with local authorities about the circumstances under which this is permitted. Some ELTs (often older models) transmit only a legacy analogue signal on 121.5 MHz or 243 MHz. Cospas-Sarsat does NOT monitor those frequencies and such beacons rely on being received only by nearby aircraft or rescue personnel. For satellite reception of alerts by Cospas-Sarsat the beacon must be a model that transmits at 406 MHz.
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