Chinese scientists have built the first quantum satellite network

China’s quantum satellite has produced its first successful result. In a paper published today in Science, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced the satellite had successfully distributed entangled photons between three different terrestrial base stations, separated by as much as 1,200 kilometers on the ground. The result is the longest entanglement ever demonstrated, and the first that spanned between the Earth and space. Researchers say the system “opens up a new avenue to both practical quantum communications and fundamental quantum optics experiments at distances previously inaccessible on the ground.”

Launched in August, the satellite uses a crystal to produce pairs of entangled photons in orbit. The photons are then transmitted down to base stations in China, traveling as much as 2,400 km through space.

In theory, entangled photons can remain linked across any distance, but in practical terms, it’s often difficult to distribute photon pairs without disrupting entanglement. If entanglement can be maintained, the result is a communication channel that’s effectively impossible to intercept. The simplest application is what cryptographers call a quantum key distribution network, using the network to securely distribute long and complex encryption keys. Anyone trying to intercept those keys would be easy to detect, since it’s impossible to observe the photons in transit without altering them.

Quantum networking has already shown promise in terrestrial fiber networks, where specialized routing equipment can perform the same trick over conventional fiber-optic cable. The first such network was a DARPA-funded connection established in 2003 between Harvard, Boston University, and a private lab. In the years since, a number of companies have tried to build more ambitious connections. The Swiss company ID Quantique has mapped out a quantum network that would connect many of North America’s largest data centers; in China, a separate team is working on a 2,000-kilometer quantum link between Beijing and Shanghai, which would rely on fiber to span an even greater distance than the satellite link. Still, the nature of fiber places strict limits on how far a single photon can travel.

According to ID Quantique, a reliable satellite link could connect the existing fiber networks into a single globe-spanning quantum network. “This proves the feasibility of quantum communications from space,” ID Quantique CEO Gregoire Ribordy tells The Verge. “The vision is that you have regional quantum key distribution networks over fiber, which can connect to each other through the satellite link.”

China isn’t the only country working on bringing quantum networks to space. A collaboration between the UK’s University of Strathclyde and the National University of Singapore is hoping to produce the same entanglement in cheap, readymade satellites called Cubesats. A Canadian team is also developing a method of producing entangled photons on the ground before sending them into space.

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