SES announced ten project partners joined the SES-led consortium to create the Quantum Cryptography Telecommunication System (Quartz). The new members of the consortium, comprising research organisations, universities and industry representatives, will create a system that will generate encryption keys in space and securely transmit those keys to users on Earth via laser.
Members include AIT Austrian Institute of Technology; German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Communications and Navigation; ID Quantique; itrust consulting; Ludwig-Maximilians-University; LuxTrust; Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light; Palacky University; Tesat-Spacecom as well as TNO.
In order to achieve delivery of a reliable, globally available cyber-security system and deliver next-generation encryption keys to networks in geographically dispersed areas, the new platform will leverage the advantages of satellite, including global reach and unlimited coverage.
Quartz's creation is backed by the European Space Agency (ESA) under a recently announced agreement with SES. In the project framework, SES and partners will define, design and create a satellite-based Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system and service architecture, which will include the future service and the core technologies, as well as ground testing. Quartz applications will address the needs of users such as telecommunication operators, financial organisations, infrastructure providers, institutions and governmental organisations.