QUBE - Secure communication using quantum encryption

19.08.2024

The research satellite QUBE, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), will for the first time test newly developed quantum communication technologies using a very small satellite in space. The objective is to support future secure, worldwide data transmission.

QUBE successfully in Orbit

The rocket launch took place on 16.8.2024 at 20:56 CET. QUBE has successfully reached orbit, is in excellent health, and has begun its operations! Data transmissions over conventional systems always carry the risk of unwanted surveillance. Even encrypted transmissions can generally be intercepted and decrypted unnoticed. This is different with quantum encryption, which creates secure communication channels that offer robust protection against eavesdropping.

In the QUBE project, the ZfT is working on building a CubeSat that utilizes quantum key exchange technology to enable a secure communication link between the satellite and Earth. For this purpose, photons with specific quantum states are generated and sent to the ground station via an optical laser link. Any interception of these photons by a third party would alter the quantum states, immediately revealing the eavesdropping attempt. In the future, multiple such CubeSats could create global networks for key distribution, fostering worldwide secure communication channels.

In the satellite control centre of ZfT in Würzburg, the rocket launch was broadcast live for researchers and guests. Following the launch, the satellite operations are there initiated and handled. Over the next months, the individual satellite components will be activated and tested, before the first quantum signals will be received and analysed with the ground station at DLR Oberpfaffenhofen during overflights at night time.

Detailed project content

• The researchers developed space-compatible miniaturized hardware for quantum communication, optical data transmission, and the necessary high-precision satellite alignment.
• After successfully completing an extensive testing program, the QUBE satellite is now ready for its experiments in Earth’s orbit, following the rocket launch scheduled for August 16, 2024, at 18:19 UTC.
• The use of quantum states to generate secret keys will provide unbreakable security in the future, with satellites offering a global dimension of communication.

Following the development of QUBE, the team is now working on the next step, QUBE II—a satellite about twice the size, designed to exchange secure keys more efficiently with ground stations thanks to higher energy budgets, improved optics, and key-generating hardware. The satellite company OHB is coordinating the follow-up project QUBE II. “Quantum key distribution is one of the first important applications of quantum technologies. There are already commercial devices for local fiber-optic networks,” explains Norbert Lemke (OHB). “The hardware components developed in the QUBE and QUBE-II projects will enable cost-effective, global quantum key generation via small satellites.” With the satellite launch in August, a significant step toward secure, global communication will be taken.

[Videostream-QUBE]

Official press release

16.08.2024 Download Pressemitteilung

Launch Live Stream

16.08.2024 SpaceX Transporter 11 launch

QUBE in the media

19.8.2024: Wirtschaftswoche, Rubrik “GameChanger”

19.8.2024: IT-Sicherheit BMBF

19.8.2024: Space News

19.8.2024: Elektrotechnik

19.8.2024: Konstruktionspraxis

18.08.2024:Simon-Marius-Gesellschaft

17.8.2024: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

17.8.2024: BMBF

17.8.2024: Bayerischer Rundfunk

17.8.2024: Bayerisches Finanzministerium

16.08.2024:SpaceX Launch at T- 00:00:00 T+ 01:00:11 QUBE deployment confirmed

15.08.2024: Sat 1 TV

11.07.2024:Pro Physik

11.07.2024:Raumfahrer.Net

11.07.2024:IDW

10.07.2024:DGLR

Project Duration

Since 08/2017

Consortium

QUBE is a joint project with LMU München, Max-Planck Institute for the physics of light, FAU, DLR, OHB GmbH. In this collaboration, advanced quantum technologies are combined with powerful optical communication systems and integrated into an innovative CubeSat system.

Funding

Die Förderung von QUBE erfolgte im Rahmen des Forschungsrahmenprogramms der Bundesregierung für IT-Sicherheit: „Selbstbestimmt und sicher in der digitalen Welt 2015-2020"

Contact

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