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Physics World

Quantum communication set for space

Edwin Cartlidge

Published Jul 1, 2008• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

A group of European scientists is proposing to use the International Space Station (ISS) to test some of the fundamentals of quantum communication. The experiment aboard the ISS would generate pairs of entangled photons that could be sent to ground stations on Earth spaced more than 1000 km apart, in order to demonstrate the feasibility of a secure global communications network based on quantum cryptography.

DOI
10.1088/2058-7058/21/07/21

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A group of European scientists is proposing to use the International Space Station (ISS) to test some of the fundamentals of quantum communication. The experiment aboard the ISS would generate pairs of entangled photons that could be sent to ground stations on Earth spaced more than 1000 km apart, in order to demonstrate the feasibility of a secure global communications network based on quantum cryptography.
Fundamental quantum optics test as well as quantum cryptography and quantum teleportation are based on the distribution of single quantum states and quantum entanglement respectively. We will discuss recent experimental achievements in the field of long-distance quantum communication via optical fiber as well as in free-space over a record breaking distance of 144 km. The European Space Agency (ESA) has supported a range of studies in the field of quantum physics and quantuminformation science in space for several years, and consequently a mission proposal Space-QUEST Quantum Entanglement for Space Experiments was submitted to the European Life and Physical Sciences in Space Program. This proposal envisions to perform space-to-ground quantum communication tests from the International Space Station (ISS) and will presented in this article.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has supported a range of studies in the field of quantum physics and quantum information science in space for several years, and consequently we have submitted the mission proposal Space-QUEST (Quantum Entanglement for Space Experiments) to the European Life and Physical Sciences in Space Program. We propose to perform space-to-ground quantum communication tests from the International Space Station (ISS). We present the proposed experiments in space as well as the design of a space based quantum communication payload.
Space offers a very unique environment for quantum physics experiments at regimes of distance and velocity not possible on ground. In the recent years there have been a range of theoretical and experimental studies towards the feasibility of performing quantum physics and quantum information science experiments in space. Such a system is possible with today's technologies and would allow to demonstrate the application of quantum secured transmission, and perform quantum optics science tests. In the near term the most promising approach is using a low-earth-orbiting (LEO) satellite either as an independent nano-sat, a piggyback payload on a larger mission, or even on the International Space Station (ISS). I will outline the envisioned quantum experiments and the requirements for the technology.
Quantum Entanglement is the essence of quantum physics and inspires fundamental questions about the principles of nature. Moreover it is also the basis for emerging technologies of quantum information processing such as quantum cryptography, quantum teleportation and quantum computation. Bell's discovery, that correlations measured on entangled quantum systems are at variance with a local realistic picture led to a flurry of experiments confirming the quantum predictions. However, it is still experimentally undecided whether quantum entanglement can survive global distances, as predicted by quantum theory. Here we report the violation of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) inequality measured by two observers separated by 144 km between the Canary Islands of La Palma and Tenerife via an optical free-space link using the Optical Ground Station (OGS) of the European Space Agency (ESA). Furthermore we used the entangled pairs to generate a quantum cryptographic key under experimental conditions and constraints characteristic for a Space-to-ground experiment. The distance in our experiment exceeds all previous free-space experiments by more than one order of magnitude and exploits the limit for ground-based free-space communication; significantly longer distances can only be reached using air- or space-based platforms. The range achieved thereby demonstrates the feasibility of quantum communication in space, involving satellites or the International Space Station (ISS).