Physicists from Russia and China jointly used a quantum communications satellite for the first time
Director of the Institute of Physics and Quantum Engineering NUST MISIS Alexey Fedorov noted that satellite quantum cryptography opens up fundamentally new opportunities for protecting data from objects located at a great distance
MOSCOW, December 1. /TASS/. For the first time, Russian and Chinese physicists jointly conducted an experiment on using the Chinese quantum communications satellite Mo-Tzu for quantum transmission of encryption keys over a distance of almost 3.8 thousand km and the exchange of messages and images over a secure communication channel. To ensure its operation, the first ground station for satellite quantum communications in the Russian Federation was built in Zvenigorod, the press service of NUST MISIS reported on Friday.
“Through the efforts of a large collaboration of scientists and engineers, a unique receiving station has been created, which allows for stable communication sessions with the satellite, as well as decoding the polarization states of single photons sent by it. Satellite quantum cryptography opens up fundamentally new opportunities for protecting the data of objects located at a great distance,” - said the director of the Institute of Physics and Quantum Engineering of NUST MISIS (Moscow) Alexey Fedorov, whose words are quoted by the press service of the university.
As Fedorov and his colleagues note, one of the main problems in the operation of modern quantum communication systems is that light gradually fades as it travels through an optical fiber. For this reason, the distance between quantum network nodes is currently several hundred kilometers when using terrestrial data transmission systems.
It is possible to increase the transmission range of quantum information by exchanging data not through terrestrial fiber optic cables, but through communications satellites. In particular, back in September 2016, scientists from China launched the Mo Tzu orbital probe and successfully used it to conduct the first “intercontinental” sessions of quantum information transfer.
Since 2019, physicists from NUST MISIS, the Russian Quantum Center and the related startup QSpace have joined experiments with Mo-Tzu.
Recently, Russian scientists completed the development of the first domestic ground communication station, which allows you to establish a connection with Mo-Tzu and exchange with it a set of single photons, particles of light, in the polarization states of which the transmitted information is encoded. This communication station was installed in Zvenigorod, from where the researchers were able to contact their Chinese colleagues in Nanshan (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region).
During this communication session, the researchers exchanged encryption keys, as well as text messages and encoded images measuring 256 by 64 pixels, and comprehensively studied the security level of all components of quantum satellite communication systems. According to physicists, this once again confirmed the possibility of using Mo-Tzu to conduct ultra-long-distance quantum communication sessions and demonstrated Russia's ability to use these systems.
