Thales Alenia Space to lead space-to-Earth quantum comms technologies project

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Thales Alenia Space has signed a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to lead TeQuantS1, a project to develop quantum space-to-Earth communications technologies.

Quantum satellite communications to be developed by the TeQuantS project
Quantum satellite communications to be developed by the TeQuantS project - © Thales Alenia Space

This contract is part of ESA’s ARTES 4.0 Core Competitiveness programme element2 and supported by the space agencies of France and Austria.

The TeQuantS project intends to develop quantum technologies for cybersecurity applications and future quantum information networks that will enable Thales Alenia Space and its partners to build satellites and optical ground stations by the end of 2026.

According to ESA, the quantum computers that are currently being developed will eventually be able to crack the cryptographic systems used by today’s classical computers, which requires Europe to develop a cryptography capability based on the quantum properties of light.

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Ground-based fibre-optic links transmitting quantum information are limited to a range of about 150km, which makes satellites the best solution for long-distance quantum communications.

The main cybersecurity challenge is to generate secure cryptographic keys (strings of data used to lock or unlock cryptographic functions, including authentication, authorization and encryption) using the quantum properties of light and distribute them to users anywhere globally.

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quantum communications