Singapore & UK Collaborate to Build Satellite Quantum Key Distribution Test Bed

(GeospatialWorld) The Singapore and UK governments will partner in a S$18 million initiative tobuild and deploy a satellite quantum key distribution (QKD) test bed. Under the collaboration, Singapore and UK will co-develop a ‘QKD Qubesat’, a satellite based on the CubeSat standard that will use a pioneering QKD technology from Singapore to test the secure distribution of cryptographic keys over globe-spanning distances. The satellite is expected to be operational in late 2021.
Satellite-based quantum key distribution is a fundamental enabler of the next generation of secure communication networks. QKD provides an alternative that can be seamlessly integrated onto the network systems we already use. It is resistant to all known computational attacks, including from future quantum computers.
The Principal Investigators for the project are CQT’s Alexander Ling, also an Associate Professor in the NUS Department of Physics, and Andy Vick, Head of Disruptive Space Technologies at the UK’s RAL Space. Christian Kurtsiefer, Principal Investigator at the Centre for Quantum Technologies and Professor in the NUS Department of Physics, is a co-PI on the project.