GettyImages © AliseFox
Recent advances in microsatellite technology make it feasible to envisage the possibility to deploy a cost-efficient quantum satellite constellation complementing the EuroQCI terrestrial deployments and facilitating the development of a flexible global network of broader scope. To prepare for this possibility, there is a need to design compact and lightweight satellites and their quantum payloads and engineer their development and in-orbit validation.
To further the EuroQCI implementation, the Commission is procuring a mission with the aim of demonstrating a fully European QKD experiment using a microsatellite with high-performance EU sub-components, with the objective of achieving sufficient key rates transmission, adapted to the technical scope of mission, and preparing for future quantum networks.
The mission has to demonstrate an innovative technology, in addition to the reduced size, weight and power consumption of the satellite. The mission is intended as a technology demonstration, contributing to setting the path for EU leadership in the domain of space-based quantum communication, by allowing for a space validation of EU sub-components.
Find more information and instructions on how to submit the tender in the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.
Call for tender reference: EC-CNECT/2025/OP/0129