QUARC: Quantum Research Cubesat—A Constellation for Quantum Communication

Luca  Mazzarella; Christopher E Lowe; David Lowndes; Siddarth Koduru Joshi; Steve Greenland; Doug  McNeil; Cassandra  Mercury; Malcolm  Macdonald; John Rarity; Daniel Kuan Li  Oi

doi:10.3390/cryptography4010007

QUARC: Quantum Research Cubesat—A Constellation for Quantum Communication

Luca Mazzarella^*, Christopher E Lowe, David Lowndes, Siddarth Koduru Joshi, Steve Greenland, Doug McNeil, Cassandra Mercury, Malcolm Macdonald, John Rarity, Daniel Kuan Li Oi

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

62 Citations (Scopus)

240 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Quantum key distribution (QKD) offers future proof security based on fundamental laws
of physics. Long-distance QKD spanning regions such as the United Kingdom (UK) may employ a
constellation of satellites. Small satellites, CubeSats in particular, in low Earth orbit are a relatively
low-cost alternative to traditional, large platforms. They allow the deployment of a large number of
spacecrafts, ensuring greater coverage and mitigating some of the risk associated with availability
due to cloud cover. We present our mission analysis showing how a constellation comprising 15
low-cost 6U CubeSats can be used to form a secure communication backbone for ground-based and
metropolitan networks across the UK. We have estimated the monthly key rates at 43 sites across the
UK, incorporating local meteorological data, atmospheric channel modelling and orbital parameters.
We have optimized the constellation topology for rapid revisit and thus low-latency key distribution.

Original language	English
Article number	1
Pages (from-to)	7
Number of pages	25
Journal	Cryptography
Volume	4
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/cryptography4010007
Publication status	Published - 27 Feb 2020

Research Groups and Themes

Bristol Quantum Information Institute
QETLabs
Photonics and Quantum

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QSTP: 8031 System Integration & Testing of a WCP QKD Payload to TRL5 QSTP
Rarity, J. G. (Principal Investigator), Lowndes, D. L. D. (Researcher) & Joshi, S. K. (Researcher)
23/04/19 → 30/09/20
Project: Research
CUBESAT Partnership resource Comms Hub: Phase II
Rarity, J. G. (Principal Investigator)
1/12/18 → 30/11/19
Project: Research
Copy of Augmentation of space-based QKD with CubeSats
Rarity, J. G. (Principal Investigator)
1/03/18 → 28/02/19
Project: Research

Cite this

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title = "QUARC: Quantum Research Cubesat—A Constellation for Quantum Communication",

abstract = "Quantum key distribution (QKD) offers future proof security based on fundamental lawsof physics. Long-distance QKD spanning regions such as the United Kingdom (UK) may employ aconstellation of satellites. Small satellites, CubeSats in particular, in low Earth orbit are a relativelylow-cost alternative to traditional, large platforms. They allow the deployment of a large number ofspacecrafts, ensuring greater coverage and mitigating some of the risk associated with availabilitydue to cloud cover. We present our mission analysis showing how a constellation comprising 15low-cost 6U CubeSats can be used to form a secure communication backbone for ground-based andmetropolitan networks across the UK. We have estimated the monthly key rates at 43 sites across theUK, incorporating local meteorological data, atmospheric channel modelling and orbital parameters.We have optimized the constellation topology for rapid revisit and thus low-latency key distribution.",

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AU - Mazzarella, Luca

AU - Lowe, Christopher E

AU - Lowndes, David

AU - Joshi, Siddarth Koduru

AU - Greenland, Steve

AU - McNeil, Doug

AU - Mercury, Cassandra

AU - Macdonald, Malcolm

AU - Rarity, John

AU - Oi, Daniel Kuan Li

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AB - Quantum key distribution (QKD) offers future proof security based on fundamental lawsof physics. Long-distance QKD spanning regions such as the United Kingdom (UK) may employ aconstellation of satellites. Small satellites, CubeSats in particular, in low Earth orbit are a relativelylow-cost alternative to traditional, large platforms. They allow the deployment of a large number ofspacecrafts, ensuring greater coverage and mitigating some of the risk associated with availabilitydue to cloud cover. We present our mission analysis showing how a constellation comprising 15low-cost 6U CubeSats can be used to form a secure communication backbone for ground-based andmetropolitan networks across the UK. We have estimated the monthly key rates at 43 sites across theUK, incorporating local meteorological data, atmospheric channel modelling and orbital parameters.We have optimized the constellation topology for rapid revisit and thus low-latency key distribution.

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QUARC: Quantum Research Cubesat—A Constellation for Quantum Communication

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Research Groups and Themes

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Projects

QSTP: 8031 System Integration & Testing of a WCP QKD Payload to TRL5 QSTP

CUBESAT Partnership resource Comms Hub: Phase II

Copy of Augmentation of space-based QKD with CubeSats

Cite this