My academic background and current work is related to quantum cryptography. I've bee involved with a proposal underway with the Canadian Space Agency for a satellite-based Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) demonstration mission. The technical leads on this experiment are the folks from the academic research institute where I did my PhD, the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) (https://uwaterloo.ca/institute-for-quantum-computing/). One of the things they have been wanting to do is an airborne QKD experiment, between an aircraft and a ground station. I have begun discussions with them about the possibility of using my RV-9A. The weight and size requirements are certainly well within what could be installed in the baggage area. The idea is that the ground station would send weak laser pulses to the aircraft, which would be captured by an onboard telescope, and processed by some onboard optics gear (with an additional RF channel for classical parameters to be sent in the clear). The main questions at this point are whether the canopy would provide enough optical clarity, and whether the telescope can be sufficiently isolated from aircraft vibration.
I wanted to put this thread out there, because going-forward I may be looking to this group for ideas about how best to configure and install a mounting setup for the equipment in the aircraft.
I'll update this thread in the weeks/months ahead as this project gets underway - I'd appreciate any suggestions or ideas, or relevant experience that any of you may be able to offer me. I'm quite excited about this project, which brings together two of my interests (flying and quantum technologies).
I'm not certain, but I think this might be the first time QKD to an aircraft has ever been done.
I wanted to put this thread out there, because going-forward I may be looking to this group for ideas about how best to configure and install a mounting setup for the equipment in the aircraft.
I'll update this thread in the weeks/months ahead as this project gets underway - I'd appreciate any suggestions or ideas, or relevant experience that any of you may be able to offer me. I'm quite excited about this project, which brings together two of my interests (flying and quantum technologies).
I'm not certain, but I think this might be the first time QKD to an aircraft has ever been done.
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