AIT supports the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light in the German national research project QUBE. QUBE will develop and launch a CubeSat for the downlink of strongly attenuated light pulses, with encoded quantum information, which can be used for the exchange of encryption keys. A miniaturized quantum random number generator (QRNG) will create a sequence of numbers, which can be used to set the quantum states of the light. AIT is responsible for providing photonic integrated circuits and software for the quantum random number generator in space and supports  the evaluation of the random numbers.

Start: 01.09.2017

End: 31.12.2021

Goals: Project: Development of hardware for worldwide, tap-proof communication by means of satellites.

Results: AIT: Design of photonic integrated circuits (PICs), manufactured photonic integrated circuits, randomness extraction algorithm implementation

Webpage: https://www.forschung-it-sicherheit-kommunikationssysteme.de/projekte/qube

Funding: Deutsches Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF)

Koordinator: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, München

Partners:

• Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. - Institut für Kommunikation und Navigation, Weßling - Oberpfaffenhofen
• Max-Planck-Institut für die Physik des Lichts, Erlangen
• OHB System AG, Weßling - Oberpfaffenhofen
• Zentrum für Telematik e. V., Würzburg
• AIT is subcontractor of the Max-Planck-Institut