Building Europe's first space-based Quantum Key Distribution system -- The German Aerospace Center's role in the EAGLE-1 mission

Gabriela Calistro-Rivera; Oliver Heirich; Amita Shrestha; Agnes Ferenczi; Alexandru Duliu; Jakob Eppinger; Bruno Femenia Castella; Christian Fuchs; Elisa Garbagnati; Douglas Laidlaw; Pia Lützen; Innocenzo De Marco; Florian Moll; Johannes Prell; Andrew Reeves; Jorge Rosano Nonay; Christian Roubal; Joana S. Torres; Matthias Wagner

arXiv · 2412.03222

Building Europe's first space-based Quantum Key Distribution system -- The German Aerospace Center's role in the EAGLE-1 mission

Gabriela Calistro-Rivera·Oliver Heirich·Amita Shrestha·Agnes Ferenczi·Alexandru Duliu·Jakob Eppinger·Bruno Femenia Castella·Christian Fuchs·Elisa Garbagnati·Douglas Laidlaw·Pia Lützen·Innocenzo De Marco·Florian Moll·Johannes Prell·Andrew Reeves·Jorge Rosano Nonay·Christian Roubal·Joana S. Torres·Matthias Wagner

View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

The EAGLE-1 mission aims to develop Europe's first sovereign, end-to-end space-based quantum key distribution (QKD) system. The mission is led by the European Space Agency (ESA) and SES in collaboration with several European National Space Agencies and private partners. The state-of-the-art QKD system will consist of a payload on board the EAGLE-1 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite, optical ground stations, quantum operational networks, and key management system. The EAGLE-1 mission represents a major step for next-generation quantum communication infrastructures, delivering valuable technical results and mission data. The Institute of Communications and Navigation (IKN) of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is a key partner in the EAGLE-1 mission and is involved in the research and development of elements in both space and ground segments. Here we report on the development of the QKD transmitter, a vital part of the QKD payload, and the customization of the Optical Ground Station Oberpfaffenhofen (OGS-OP) to conduct the IOT phase of EAGLE-1. For the space segment, DLR-IKN is in charge of the design of the QKD transmitter, including the development of the software and firmware. This transmitter generates quantum states which are used to implement a QKD protocol based on an optical signal, that will be transmitted to ground. For the ground segment, The OGS-OP will serve as the in-orbit testing ground station for EAGLE-1. Building upon the expertise with a range of satellites for quantum communication, as well as new implementations, OGS-OP will validate the performance of the payload, optical link and QKD system for the first time. We present the main developments of OGS-OP for the mission, which includes the implementation of an upgraded adaptive optics system to correct for atmospheric distortions and optimize the coupling of the incoming light into a single mode optical fiber.

Explore related subjects

quant-ph

Keep this discovery

BibTeX RIS

Gabriela Calistro-Rivera, Oliver Heirich, Amita Shrestha, Agnes Ferenczi, Alexandru Duliu, Jakob Eppinger, Bruno Femenia Castella, Christian Fuchs, Elisa Garbagnati, Douglas Laidlaw, Pia Lützen, Innocenzo De Marco, Florian Moll, Johannes Prell, Andrew Reeves, Jorge Rosano Nonay, Christian Roubal, Joana S. Torres, Matthias Wagner. 2024-12-04. Building Europe's first space-based Quantum Key Distribution system -- The German Aerospace Center's role in the EAGLE-1 mission. https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.03222

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Probing the Error-Mitigation Threshold with Matrix Product States

Quantum error mitigation relies on accurate noise characterization, but mismatches between the actual and characterized noise can be amplified and drive a sharp threshold between successful and failed mitigation. In random circuits, this threshold maps onto a random-field Ising transition, but previous exact numerics were limited to small one-dimensional and all-to-all systems, leaving explicit two-dimensional architectures unresolved. We develop a fixed-bond-dimension matrix-product-state method for the replicated transfer dynamics that extends threshold calculations beyond exact propagation while retaining the finite-size signatures of the transition. At system sizes beyond previous exact studies, we recover the predicted absence of a threshold for quenched disorder in 1D, obtain a sharper annealed all-to-all critical point, and resolve architecture-dependent finite-depth thresholds in 2D square and heavy-hex circuits. These results establish replicated tensor-network dynamics as a practical tool for probing error-mitigation thresholds in large and higher-dimensional noisy circuits.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Low-cost algorithm-to-execution framework for surface-code quantum computing

The execution of useful quantum algorithms on fault-tolerant processors requires more than a mapping from logical gates to encoded operations: the spatial organization, non-Clifford resource supply, and execution schedule must also be determined while keeping physical overhead within practical limits. Although the theoretical hierarchy from logical circuits to fault-tolerant operations is well established, these implementation choices are often specified and optimized separately. Here we develop a low-cost algorithm-to-execution framework for surface-code quantum computing. From hierarchical algorithm descriptions, it constructs dependency-preserving logical schedules and an executable workload capturing logical interactions, operation parallelism, and time-resolved non-Clifford demand, thereby linking logical computation to surface-code organization, resource-state preparation, and fault-tolerant execution in a traceable workflow. We apply the framework to twenty benchmark circuits across seven algorithm families and a hierarchically composed application-scale elliptic-curve discrete-logarithm workload. Physical costs vary substantially even for circuits with similar logical resource counts. Under our direct-rotation calibration, non-Clifford implementation selection reduces space-time volume by up to 241.5 times versus an all-synthesis baseline for the QAOA amplitude-amplification workload. Circuit-specific surface-code layouts reduce routed-latency estimates for all twenty benchmarks; thirteen also reduce space-time volume because communication savings outweigh added spatial overhead. These results show that low-cost fault-tolerant execution depends on computation scheduling and organization, not aggregate logical resource counts alone.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Sample-optimal learning of stabilizer states

It is well-known that learning a pure $n$-qubit stabilizer state $|\psi\rangle$ both requires, and can be accomplished with, access to a number of copies of $|\psi\rangle$ linear in $n$. However, the precise constant coefficient of this scaling does not appear to have been determined. Here we prove that $L_\delta(n)$, the smallest number of copies from which a quantum procedure can identify any stabilizer state with failure probability at most $0<\delta<1/8$, satisfies $n+\lceil\log_2(1/\delta)\rceil-3\leq L_\delta(n)\leq n+\left\lceil\log_2(1/\delta)\right\rceil+4$. We present a polynomial-time quantum learning algorithm that saturates this bound, achieving a constant factor improvement in sample-complexity over previously known approaches. As an immediate corollary, we obtain via the Choi-Jamiolkowski isomorphism an algorithm for learning an unknown $n$-qubit Clifford unitary from $2n+\left\lceil\log_2(1/\delta)\right\rceil+4$ queries, the $n$-dependence of which we show to be optimal. Our proof technique, which involves Fourier analysis on the abelian group $\mathbb{Z}_4^n \times \mathbb{F}_2^{n(n-1)/2}$, seems to be qualitatively different to previous approaches to stabilizer state learning, and may be of some independent interest; in particular, it admits natural generalisations to further problems in quantum learning theory.

quant-ph↗