The QUDICE Project, securing the future of European space infrastructure
10.05.2023
Protecting sensitive information is one of the biggest concerns public and private entities face today. We are in urgent need to protect the transmission of sensitive information in the most secure way possible, not only protecting ground based in-fibre, but also free-space communications.
One of the most advanced cryptography techniques is the so-called Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), a promising solution to protect digital communications, guaranteeing security based on the laws of quantum mechanics rather than on the computation capability of a hacker. In order to extend this ultra-secure system at European regional level, the most promising way is to include satellite system networks into the technological solutions under study.
Launched in January of 2023, QUDICE is a European project that focuses on developing components and subsystems for space-based QKD. The successful completion of this project will signify a game changer in space-based communications since it will permit a European network of satellites with quantum key distribution as the main service, enabling ultra-secure communications extended across the entire European region.
QUDICE, which stands for Quantum Devices and Subsystems for Communications in Space, gathers eleven partners (academic institutions, research organizations, and technology companies) from six European countries, experts in quantum technologies, in particular within the field of quantum communications. “The consortium has gained considerable experience from its precursor project Quango”, explains Giuseppe Vallone, Professor at the Dep. of Information Engineering of the University of Padua and Coordinator of the project. “For our Quango Project, we had the opportunity to develop pioneering quantum technological components and systems in the lab with a technology readiness level of 4 (TRL4), in which we were able to make individual components work together as a System. Now in QUDICE we will bring the devices from breadboard demonstrations in a lab (TRL4) to a space qualified engineering model (TRL6)”.
QUDICE is already in full motion with the objective of obtaining the first prototypes by the end of 2024 and testing them in 2025. In particular, QUDICE will develop two sources for QKD (one for discrete- and the other for continuous-variable encoding), a Quantum Random Number Generator, a satellite Pointing, Acquisition and Tracking system, an Entangled Photon Source, a 5G system for QKD post-processing support and 5G QKD-secured connectivity service, and simulations to assess the performance of the developed quantum satellite communications components.
