Twenty years after the first experiment demonstrating quantum teleportation with photons, quantum communication is a well-established field. But very recently it made the headlines again, with the first successful distribution of entangled photon pairs between a satellite and ground, covering distances of over 1,200 km. To achieve this, the Chinese team behind the experiment used Micius, the 600-kg dedicated quantum communication satellite launched last year. Now, Hideki Takenaka and colleagues demonstrate some of the essential features of quantum communication in the transmission from a microsatellite in low-Earth orbit to ground.
Takenaka and colleagues used the 48-kg SOCRATES (Space Optical Communications Research Advanced Technology Satellite) microsatellite: a low-cost 50-cm cube (pictured). They successfully transmitted non-orthogonal polarization states and tested the feasibility of implementing quantum communication protocols. The results are encouraging for future satellite-to-ground laser communication systems and quantum key distribution for microsatellite communication. The latter is particularly relevant in the context of satellite constellations for which secure communication is increasingly important.
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Georgescu, I. Satellite to ground control. Nature Phys 13, 722 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys4233
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys4233
