Starion was pleased to witness the launch on 28 November of the SpeQtre satellite, which hosts a quantum communications payload developed by SpeQtral. SpeQtre will provide a platform for the demonstration of intercontinental quantum-safe communications through the International Use Cases for Operational Quantum Key Distribution Applications and Services project (INT-UQKD), led by Starion Luxembourg. INT-UQKD is possible thanks to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) programme within ESA’s Directorate of Connectivity and Secure Communications.
PRESS RELEASE: Starion extends its sincere congratulations to INT-UQKD partner SpeQtral along with RAL Space on the successful launch of the SpeQtre satellite, which will play a key role in 2026 in the advancement of the INT-UQKD project.
Built by SpeQtral and RAL Space, and launched on SpaceX’s Transporter 15 mission, SpeQtre, a 12U CubeSat, hosts a payload specially designed to enable secure communications between continents using quantum keys. The SpeQtral payload includes a software component developed by evolutionQ, another INT-UQKD project partner, exclusively for the INT-UQKD project.
Later this month, INT-UQKD will reach another milestone when the optical ground station in Luxembourg, which is being developed by project partner HITEC, clears its initial setup testing, before being moved into its final location in Windhof, Luxembourg. Following commissioning of the satellite, in Q2 2026 the INT-UQKD project will demonstrate a working quantum-safe communications link using QKD between Singapore, Luxembourg and Belgium.
INT-UQKD is funded through the ARTES strategic programme line ‘Space Systems for Safety and Security’ (4S), with the involvement of the Office for Space Technology & Industry, Singapore (OSTIn), Singapore’s national space office. Starion is leading the project, which is an international collaboration with partners in Luxembourg (POST Luxembourg, HITEC Luxembourg and SnT), Canada (evolutionQ) and Singapore (SpeQtral).
Silvia de Castro Garcia, Starion Managing Director, said: “We were really pleased to see the successful launch of the SpeQtre satellite. This is great news not only for SpeQtral and RAL Space, but also for INT-UQKD as the satellite will play a central role in the next phase of the project’s development. We have been successfully running terrestrial quantum-safe communications links using QKD for 2 years now, with millions of keys being distributed. But there are limits to the length of these secure terrestrial links, whereas using satellites will enable safe exchange of quantum keys anywhere in the world.”
Marc Welter, Technical Officer for the INT-UQKD project at ESA, said: “Demonstrating quantum-safe communications links is increasingly important as the capabilities of quantum computers increase; the threat looms larger that they might break existing critical cryptographic techniques. The INT-UQKD project has already proved that it is possible to successfully operate a continuous international quantum-safe link via optical fibre. Now, with the launch of SpeQtre, it will not be long before we see the successful demonstration of global satellite-based quantum-safe communications through INT-UQKD.”
Further information
Contact details: Isabelle Roels, VP Marketing and Communications (i.roels@stariongroup.eu)
Main image © SpaceX
