CRETIAS

Secure Satcom for Safety & Security (4S)

Status

Ongoing
Status date

2025-03-03
Activity Code

6A.082

Objectives

Objective of this activity is the development, validation, qualification, and demonstration of a terminal built around ATTISAT’s FLANKu30B antenna, a passive, low profile, dual polarization, TX/RX, Planar Antenna, operating in Ku band (including the GreeCom assigned ITU APP. 30B band).

Integration of all active COTS components (BUC, LNB, and/or SMART LNB) on the back side of the antenna, ensure an extremely rugged, portable and fully integrated terminal without any loose parts. Being modem agnostic, the antenna could be paired with any modem and connect to any satellite network.

The CRETIAS terminal offers enhanced Data Security and Functionality, operating in the Greecom System through the integration of a Dynamic Multipoint Virtual Private Network (DMVPN) system.

Challenges

There are three main challenges in this project:

Antenna Power handling capability for BUCs having a power ranging from 6W up to 25W.
Tx/Rx isolation. Application of the Sequential Rotation technique leads to a values higher than 25dB. In addition, suitable rejection filters are incorporated for increasing the Tx/Rx isolation to values in the range of 70-80 dB.
ITU-R S.580.6 antenna radiation patterns compliance.

Benefits

CRETIAS is capable to accommodate any commercially satellite modem offering secure communications.

Especially for the GreeCom system, the incorporation of a DMVPN router, with suitable interfaces, provides a scalable solution for the required encryption, integrity and confidentiality of the data transmitted.

CRETIAS facilitates rapid deployment of high throughput any-to-any connectivity across the GreeCom and other satellite networks. It can serve organisations that need fast, reliable and ultraportable network access including:

Greek Civil Protection for Emergency Response/Disaster Management Communication.
Greek MoD, Greek Police for Fixed or Emergency Interconnection of critical services in remote areas.
Hellenic Coast Guard for Border Control and Surveillance Applications
Seismic Data Collection through M2M/SCADA networks.
Hellenic Fire Brigade for Fire Prevention and security of the citizens

Features

CRETIAS terminal offers the following features:

Full Ku band operation (including the GreeCom assigned ITU APP. 30B band),
High Antenna Gain characteristics better than 36 dBi.
Dual Linear Polarisation (Vertical / Horizontal).
Radiation Pattern Compliance to ITU-APEREC015V01, ITU-R S.580-6, FCC-25.209
Rugged, fully integrated terminal (65x65x15cm) less than 19 Kgr.
Flexible configuration (Fixed or Portable Use)
Wide application range terminal (modem agnostic)

System Architecture

The main components of CRETIAS are:

ANTENNA
BUC/LNB
OMT/FILTERS
SATELLITE MODEM/DMVPN ROUTER

System architecture is presented below:

Plan

The Project has been divided in two (2) Development Phases, Product and Demonstration.

During the Product Phase, a full-scale antenna incorporating COTS elements has been designed, developed and tested, against ITU and FCC standards.

During the Demonstration Phase, complete CRETIAS Terminal, including DMVPN router, has been validated in GreeCom’s operational environment, with the involvement of GreeCom users.

Terminal in its final configuration installed in different GreeCom user utilisation environments.

A real time communication campaign contacted demonstrating its operational effectiveness and capabilities that assure the commercial attractiveness of the product.

Current status

The CRETIAS activity was completed in February 2025.
The main achievements are:

Development and integration of a Ku-band flat satellite antenna and subsystems into a compact satellite terminal.
Development and demonstration of a reconfigurable, modem agnostic, rugged, portable satellite terminal, facilitating rapid deployment, reliable, secure and high throughput connectivity.

Configured as an autonomous satellite node, CRETIAS terminal will serve commercial and governmental safety and security applications: