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International Conference on Quantum Communications, Networking, and Computing (QCNC)

Optimizing Orbital Parameters of Satellites for a Global Quantum Network

Athul Ashok, Owen DePoint, Jackson MacDonald, Albert Williams, Don Towsley

Published Apr 6, 2026• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

Due to fundamental limitations on terrestrial quantum links, satellites have received considerable attention for their potential as entanglement generation sources in a global quantum internet. In this work, we focus on the problem of designing a constellation of satellites for such a quantum network. We find satellite inclination angles and satellite cluster allocations to achieve maximal entanglement generation rates to fixed sets of globally distributed ground stations. Exploring two black-box optimization frameworks: a Bayesian Optimization (BO) approach and a Genetic Algorithm (GA) approach, we find comparable results, indicating their effectiveness for this optimization task. While GA and BO often perform remarkably similar, BO often converges more efficiently, while later growth noted in GAs is indicative of less susceptibility towards local maxima. In either case, they offer substantial improvements over naive approaches that maximize coverage with respect to ground station placement.

DOI
10.1109/qcnc69040.2026.00118

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Due to fundamental limitations on terrestrial quantum links, satellites have received considerable attention for their potential as entanglement generation sources in a global quantum internet. In this work, we focus on the problem of designing a constellation of satellites for such a quantum network. We find satellite inclination angles and satellite cluster allocations to achieve maximal entanglement generation rates to fixed sets of globally distributed ground stations. Exploring two black-box optimization frameworks: a Bayesian Optimization (BO) approach and a Genetic Algorithm (GA) approach, we find comparable results, indicating their effectiveness for this optimization task. While GA and BO often perform remarkably similar, BO often converges more efficiently, while later growth noted in GAs is indicative of less susceptibility towards local maxima. In either case, they offer substantial improvements over naive approaches that maximize coverage with respect to ground station placement.
Due to fundamental limitations on terrestrial quantum links, satellites have received considerable attention for their potential as entanglement generation sources in a global quantum internet. In this work, we focus on the problem of designing a constellation of satellites for such a quantum network. We find satellite inclination angles and satellite cluster allocations to achieve maximal entanglement generation rates to fixed sets of globally distributed ground stations. Exploring two black-box optimization frameworks: a Bayesian Optimization (BO) approach and a Genetic Algorithm (GA) approach, we find comparable results, indicating their effectiveness for this optimization task. While GA and BO often perform remarkably similar, BO often converges more efficiently, while later growth noted in GAs is indicative of less susceptibility towards local maxima. In either case, they offer substantial improvements over naive approaches that maximize coverage with respect to ground station placement.
In this paper, we investigate the optimization of global quantum communication through satellite constellations. We address the challenge of quantum key distribution (QKD) across vast distances and the limitations posed by terrestrial fiber-optic networks. Our research focuses on the configuration of satellite constellations to improve QKD between ground stations and the application of innovative orbital mechanics to reduce latency in quantum information transfer. We introduce a novel approach using quantum relay satellites in Molniya orbits, enhancing communication efficiency and coverage. The use of these high eccentricity orbits allows us to extend the operational presence of satellites over targeted hemispheres, thus maximizing the quantum network's reach. Our findings provide a strategic framework for deploying quantum satellites and relay systems to achieve a robust and efficient global quantum communication network.
Satellite-based quantum networks are emerging as a promising solution for the development of a global quantum internet in the near future. The ability to leverage the advantageous lower attenuation of optical signals from satellites to ground presents an exciting opportunity to establish a robust and secure quantum communication infrastructure on a global scale. By utilizing a constellation of satellites, it becomes feasible to continuously distribute high-fidelity quantum entanglements among ground stations over long distances, overcoming the limitations of traditional terrestrial-based quantum communication systems. In this article, we first provide a brief survey of existing solutions for satellite-based entanglement distribution, highlighting the various approaches and technologies that have been employed in this rapidly evolving field. We then delve into a formulated optimal entanglement distribution problem, aiming to optimize the distribution of quantum entanglement resources across the satellite network to maximize efficiency and reliability. This problem is addressed through a detailed exploration of several different methodologies and algorithms, each tailored to specific operational settings and constraints. Our experimental results confirm the efficiency of these approaches and provide valuable insights into their practical implementation and performance. Finally, we identify several key directions for further study and development in the realm of satellite-based quantum networks.
Recent technological advancements in satellite based quantum communication has made it a promising technology for realizing global scale quantum networks. Due to better loss distance scaling compared to ground based fiber communication, satellite quantum communication can distribute high quality quantum entanglements among ground stations that are geographically separated at very long distances. This work focuses on optimal distribution of bipartite entanglements to a set of pair of ground stations using a constellation of orbiting satellites. In particular, we characterize the optimal satellite-to-ground station transmission scheduling policy with respect to the aggregate entanglement distribution rate subject to various resource constraints at the satellites and ground stations. We cast the optimal transmission scheduling problem as an integer linear programming problem and solve it efficiently for some specific scenarios. Our framework can also be used as a benchmark tool to measure the performance of other potential transmission scheduling policies.
As Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite mega constellations continue to be deployed for satellite internet and recent successful experiments in satellite-based quantum entanglement distribution emerge, a natural question arises: How should we coordinate transmissions and design scalable scheduling policies for a quantum satellite internet? In this work, we consider the problem of transmission scheduling in quantum satellite networks subject to resource constraints at the satellites and ground stations. We show that the most general problem of assigning satellites to ground station pairs for entanglement distribution is NP-hard. We then propose four heuristic algorithms and evaluate their performance for Starlink mega constellation under various amount of resources and placements of the ground stations. We find that the maximum number of receivers necessary per ground station grows very slowly with the total number of deployed ground stations. Our proposed algorithms, leveraging optimal weighted b-matching and the global greedy heuristic, outperform others in entanglement distribution rate, entanglement fidelity, and handover cost metrics. While we develop these scheduling algorithms, we have also designed a software system to simulate, visualize, and evaluate satellite mega-constellations for entanglement distribution.
The advancement of satellite-based quantum networks shows promise in transforming global communication infrastructure by establishing a secure and reliable quantum Internet. These networks use optical signals from satellites to ground stations to distribute high-fidelity quantum entanglements over long distances, overcoming the limitations of traditional terrestrial systems. However, the complexity of satellite-based entanglement distribution and terrestrial quantum swapping in the integrated network requires joint optimization with satellite assignment, resource allocation, and path selection. To address this challenge, we introduce a hybrid quantum-classical algorithm to solve the optimization problem by leveraging the strengths of both quantum and classical computing. The original problem is decomposed into a master problem and several subproblems using Dantzig-Wolfe decomposition and linearization techniques. Through experiments, this study demonstrates the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed methods in optimizing large-scale networks and managing qubit usage compared to the classical optimization techniques. The findings provide valuable insights for designing and implementing satellite-based entanglement distribution in quantum networks, paving the way for a secure global quantum communication infrastructure.