Study on feasibility of SATCOM for railway communication

Final Report
the satellite communications have become critical elements for defence, security, humanitarian,
emergency response or diplomatic communications and they are a key enabler for civil and military
missions/operations in particular in remote and austere environments with little or no infrastructure.
Additionally, there is strong potential for a dual-use cooperative approach. The objective of EDA‘s
proposal for Governmental Satellite Communications (GOVSATCOM) is to prepare the next
generation in the 2025 timeframe. In close cooperation with Member States, the European
Commission and the European Space Agency, the programme includes:
i. Establishing a GOVSATCOM Operators User Group of the five Member States (DE, ES, FR,
IT, UK) that operate systems;
ii. Identifying and producing Common Staff Targets for future mission requirements;
iii. On this basis, undertake a gap analysis and an updated Strategic Research Agenda;
iv. Coordinating civil and military requirements; and
v. Preparing a Category B project for Member States interested in due course.
It is important to highlight that it has been considered the SATCOM as the backbone of many
infrastructures where some are strictly security related. In this sense, security requirements are taken
into account when providing SATCOM, particularly in the areas of transport and space where the
supported information systems are vital for the safety of users.
From [RD-06], it is mentioned the rail traffic management as one of them. Although the new
European train control system is essentially based on ground-based radio communications between
the trains and the Control Centres. It is well known that several initiatives form ESA and also EUAR
(EC) has been launched to investigate about the feasibility of satellite based solutions (SATCOM and
SATNAV) since it can increase capacity and make train traveling economically more attractive. Future
needs could be significant, as 30% of current road freight over a 300 km range are forecast to move to
other transport modes such as rail or waterborne transport by 2030, and more than 50% by 2050.
Currently, the Shift to Rail (S2R) consortium (EC initiative) is conducting several studies to increase
the attractiveness and efficiency of rail transport, and IP2 workpackage is including activities related to
the promotion of SATCOM technology for safety railway communications.
One of the more recent proposals comes from Luxemburg and it is named: GovSat. It is a brand
operated by LuxGovSat S.A., a public-private joint venture between the Luxembourg Government and
SES, the world-leading satellite operator.
The main mission of this satellite Ka/X-band dual solution is to provide secure, reliable and accessible
satellite communication services for governments – addressing the demand for connectivity resulting
from defence and institutional security applications.
It is introducing a new type of geostationary satellite aimed exclusively at government and defence
users. GovSat-1 is a multi-mission satellite that offers X-band and Military Ka-band capacity. It is a
highly secure satellite with encrypted command and control and anti-jamming capabilities. The
company‘s first satellite GovSat-1 is scheduled to be operational in Q4 2017.
LuxGovSat will lease satellite capacity on a non-preemptable basis, and their users have full control
over the management of their services. Capacity leases will be offered to governments and institutions
on a full or actional transponder basis (MHz). In addition, the 24/7 secure operations will be staffed by
operators and experts with the security clearance needed to support their users.
Doc.Nº: SRAIL-FNR-010-IND
Edit./Rev.: 1/1
Date: 16/02/2017
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