In this talk we report on the development of OISL terminals at Honeywell for high-speed crosslinks in LEO mega constellations, optical downlinks for EO data transfer, and QKD applications. Since 2017 Honeywell has been actively developing a 100 mm class, high-reliability OISL laser communication terminal named the LCT100. Honeywell has also been developed terminals suitable for quantum communication and QKD applications, including a quantum-enabled version of the LCT100 crosslink terminal, and a 250 mm class terminal for Canada’s Quantum Encryption and Science Satellite (QEYSSat) which is capable of distributing provably secure encryption keys to ground stations separated by 400 km or more. Major technical challenges include accurate pointing and tracking, polarization-management throughout the optical chain, and deep suppression of background and stray light sources, given the nature of single photon exchange over large distances. Honeywell will fly both QKD and classical terminals on the upcoming QEYSSat mission and in this talk we discuss the design and the readiness of these technologies to address the current challenges in LEO crosslinks and FSO communications.
In this talk we report on the development of OISL terminals at Honeywell for high-speed crosslinks in LEO mega constellations, optical downlinks for EO data transfer, and QKD applications. Since 2017 Honeywell has been actively developing a 100 mm class, high-reliability OISL laser communication terminal named the LCT100. Honeywell has also been developed terminals suitable for quantum communication and QKD applications, including a quantum-enabled version of the LCT100 crosslink terminal, and a 250 mm class terminal for Canada’s Quantum Encryption and Science Satellite (QEYSSat) which is capable of distributing provably secure encryption keys to ground stations separated by 400 km or more. Major technical challenges include accurate pointing and tracking, polarization-management throughout the optical chain, and deep suppression of background and stray light sources, given the nature of single photon exchange over large distances. Honeywell will fly both QKD and classical terminals on the upcoming QEYSSat mission and in this talk we discuss the design and the readiness of these technologies to address the current challenges in LEO crosslinks and FSO communications.
Honeywell Aerospace has been selected by the Canadian Space Agency to implement the Quantum Encryption and Science Satellite (QEYSSat), a Canadian-owned and operated scientific and technology demonstration mission towards the next-generation of secure communications infrastructure. Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a method for distributing, via single-photon transfer, verifiably-confidential encryption keys between two parties separated by large distances. This capability is a powerful tool for the transmission of sensitive data (e.g. financial transactions, personal health records, etc.), however current ground-based QKD networks are limited in geographic reach to roughly 200 kilometres. The QEYSSat mission will use a satellite receiver to demonstrate the distribution of secure keys between ground stations separated by at least 400 km. In addition, Honeywell intends to fly an optical intersatellite link (OISL) terminal as a hosted payload on this mission. The QEYSSat mission will implement both weak coherent pulse (WCP) sources and entangled photon sources to study the performance of QKD, and to perform Bell tests of long-range quantum entanglement. Honeywell is building the free-space QKD terminal consisting of a large-diameter front-end telescope, a precision pointing and tracking system, single-photon receiver, and a downlink source. Major technical challenges include accurate pointing and tracking, polarization-management throughout the optical chain, and deep suppression of background and stray light sources, given the nature of single photon exchange over large distances. To address these challenges, Honeywell is leveraging its existing optical communications solutions to meet the enhanced performance requirements for space-based QKD. A large-format telescope for geostationary optical communications forms the basis for the terminal's front-end optics, and Honeywell's commercially-focused Optical Pointing and Tracking Relay Assembly for intersatellite Communications (OPTRAC) is being adapted as a high-performance, quantum-ready pointing and tracking unit (QTRAC). This paper discusses the design of the QKD terminal and will highlight results from the recently completed QEYSSat Phase A study.
Honeywell Aerospace is implementing on behalf of the Canadian Space Agency the Quantum Encryption and Science Satellite (QEYSSat), a Canadian-owned and operated scientific and technology demonstration mission aimed at developing the next-generation of secure communications infrastructure backed by quantum physics. The mission management is led by the Canadian Space Agency and the science is led by the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo. Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a method for issuing, via single-photon transmission, verifiably-confidential encryption keys between two parties. This capability is a powerful tool for the transfer of sensitive data (e.g. financial transactions, health records, etc.), however current terrestrial QKD networks are limited to a few hundred kilometres in geographic reach between nodes. The QEYSSat mission will use a satellite receiver as a trusted node to demonstrate the distribution of secure keys between ground stations separated by at least 400 km. In addition, Honeywell intends to fly an optical intersatellite link (OISL) terminal as a hosted payload on this mission. The QEYSSat mission will utilize both weak coherent pulse (WCP) sources and entangled photon sources in an uplink configuration to study the performance of QKD, and to perform Bell tests of long-range quantum entanglement. Honeywell is building the QKD receiver terminal consisting of a front-end telescope, a precision pointing and tracking system and single-photon detectors. Major technical challenges include polarization management throughout the optical chain, accurate pointing and tracking, and suppression of background and stray light sources. To address these challenges, Honeywell is leveraging its existing commercial optical communications solutions to meet the more stringent performance requirements for space-based QKD. The QKD terminal architecture consists of an afocal front-end telescope, a wide FOV high-precision pointing and tracking assembly, a polarization analyzer and single-photon photodetector system. A large-diameter on-axis telescope for geostationary optical communications forms the basis for the terminal’s front-end optics, and Honeywell’s commercial Optical Pointing and Tracking Relay Assembly for intersatellite Communications (OPTRAC) has been adapted as a quantum-ready pointing and tracking unit (QTRAC). For each element, substantial effort has been made to develop an optical system that preserves single-photon states with high fidelity despite the large number of optical surfaces in the chain. The optical assembly for the QKD terminal was developed and tested at the breadboard level in 2020; this paper will highlight the development and testing of these units as well as the overall architecture and concept of the QEYSSat mission.
This paper provides an overview of the major quantum communications programs at Honeywell Aerospace. Honeywell Aerospace is implementing, on behalf of the Canadian Space Agency, the Quantum Encryption and Science Satellite (QEYSSat), a Canadian science and technology demonstration mission which aims to explore the next generation of secure communications infrastructure delivered via satellites. The QEYSSat mission will use a satellite receiver to demonstrate the distribution of secure keys on a global scale via uplink configuration. Planned experiments with the QEYSSat mission include long-range Bell tests of quantum entanglement, and demonstrations of quantum key distribution (QKD) between QEYSSat and several ground stations to provide a testbed for practical key distribution and management. QEYSSat will also be used to further develop the practicality of space-based quantum key distribution. The QEYSSat satellite will be capable of acting as both a weak coherent pulse transmitter as well as a receiver for both BB84 and BBM92 protocols. Honeywell also will fly a secondary laser communications terminal as a hosted payload on QEYSSat. This payload will serve as a flight demonstrator for Honeywell’s commercial inter-satellite and space-to-ground laser communications terminal. The secondary payload will be enabled to also support a weak coherent pulse downlink. In addition to heritage-building, the secondary payload will also serve as an operations demonstration for the upcoming QKDSat network.Beyond QEYSSat, Honeywell is implementing the QKDSat mission in a public-private partnership with the European Space Agency. The QKDSat program consists of an initial deployment of a single satellite and multiple user ground stations for the purposes of establishing an operational global quantum key distribution infrastructure capable of connecting ground-based quantum key distribution networks at scale. The hybrid laser communications terminals hosted on QKDSat are based on the QEYSSat secondary payload design and provide a high-rate BB84 downlink as well as a high-speed bidirectional classical communications channel.Beyond space segments, Honeywell is designing and building a network of ground stations to support both the QEYSSat and QKDSat programs. The QEYSSat mission is expected to operate in conjunction with an optical quantum ground station developed by Honeywell and the Institute for Quantum Computing, hosted by the Canadian Space Agency. The QKDSat mission focuses on a ground network which includes sites in the UK and continental Europe.This paper provides an overview of both the QEYSSat and QKDSat missions including the quantum payloads, ground segments, and the payload and mission-level performance indicators.
A worldwide growing interest in fast and secure data communications pushes technology development along two lines. While fast communications can be realized using laser communications in fiber and free-space, inherently secure communications can be achieved using quantum key distribution (QKD). By combining both technologies in a single device, many synergies can be exploited, therefore reducing size, weight and power of future systems. In recent experiments we demonstrated quantum communications over large distances as well as between an aircraft and a ground station which proved the feasibility of QKD between moving partners. Satellites thus may be used as trusted nodes in combination with QKD receiver stations on ground, thereby enabling fast and secure communications on a global scale. We discuss the previous experiment with emphasis on necessary developments to be done and corresponding ongoing research work of German Aerospace Center (DLR) and Ludwig Maximilians University Munich (LMU). DLR is performing research on satellite and ground terminals for the high-rate laser communication component, which are enabling technologies for the QKD link. We describe the concept and hardware of three generations of OSIRIS (Optical High Speed Infrared Link System) laser communication terminals for low Earth orbiting satellites. The first type applies laser beam pointing solely based on classical satellite control, the second uses an optical feedback to the satellite bus and the third, currently being in design phase, comprises of a special coarse pointing assembly to control beam direction independent of satellite orientation. Ongoing work also targets optical terminals for CubeSats. A further increase of beam pointing accuracy can be achieved with a fine pointing assembly. Two ground stations will be available for future testing, an advanced stationary ground station and a transportable ground station. In parallel the LMU QKD source size will be reduced by more than an order of magnitude thereby simplifying its integration into future free-space optical communication links with CubeSats.
Secure optical communications networks are a functional requirement for many military, government, and civilian applications. Optical free space links provide security due to the small ground footprint of highly collimated laser beam patterns. Space-based optical communications provide an additional layer of security due to dynamic angular tracking requirements and remote orbiting infrastructure. The addition of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) adds a third layer of safety through the use of physically unbreakable keys. The QEYSSat mission is scheduled to launch in 2022. This mission will carry a primary QKD science payload and a secondary high-speed optical communications demonstration payload. The QEYSSat secondary communications payload (QP2) is the latest space-based optical communications terminal designed to be amenable to low cost mass production methods, meeting the price targets of many planned low-earth-orbit optical communications constellations. The successful demonstration of both technologies on a single micro-satellite platform demonstrates the key technologies necessary to enable next generation high speed secure communications networks. In this paper we present an overview of the QEYSSAT optical payloads and describe secure architectures for QKD-enabled optical communications network applications.
Satellite-based Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) can be used to deliver information-theoretically secure keys for cryptographic applications, no matter where end-users are located. Several space missions using this concept have shown feasibility of systems and component technologies. The QUBE-II mission, with a planned launch in Spring 2026, uses an economic CubeSat platform to show the possibility of a global secure communication by simple means. This paper presents the optical system design of the QUBE-II laser communication terminal (LCT). It is based on the previous developments for the CubeL mission (launched in 2021), for CubeISL, and for the precursor mission QUBE-I (launched in 2024). The 2.5U LCT is integrated into an 8U CubeSat and serves as transmit system for two Alice modules operating at 850 nm and in optical L-band1, 2 respectively. At the same time, bi-directional classical links are used for link acquisition, tracking, and data transmission. With its 85 mm aperture and an 800 mm receiver telescope on the ground station, the antenna gain is sufficiently high enough to perform QKD links. The LCT’s optical system is designed based on a commercially available reflective telescope in combination with custom-designed lenses. It integrates several fiber-optical and electrical components for wavelength combination, wavelength splitting, tracking, and uplink data reception into a compact design. The Alice payloads are connected to the LCT by optical fibres allowing a flexible placement of the modules within the satellite bus. Collimators couple the light into free-space beams which are co-aligned and interfaced to the transmit telescope. In addition to the optical system design, this paper provides further information about the integration of the optical into the mechanical system, and the performed functional and qualification tests.