The first system satellite, "COSPAS-1" (Kosmos 1383), was launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome on June 29, 1982. Cospas-Sarsat began tracking the two original types of distress beacons, EPIRBs and ELTs, in September, 1982. The first persons were rescued with the assistance of Cospas-Sarsat when the distress signal from a small plane was relayed by the COSPAS-1 satellite to a then-experimental ground station in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The story has been related by the plane's pilot, Jonathan Ziegelheim, who rescue authorities judged would probably have died of his injuries if it were not for Cospas-Sarsat.