Optical Quantum Ground Station (OQGS)
QEYSSat (Quantum Encryption and Science Satellite)
Primary quantum ground station for the QEYSSat mission, built by Honeywell and commissioned at CSA headquarters in Saint-Hubert, Quebec, providing the optical uplink for quantum key distribution.
Technical specifications
- Type
- Optical Quantum Ground Station (OQGS)
- Link direction
- Uplink (ground to satellite)
- Photon source technologies
- Weak coherent pulse (WCP), entangled photon source (EPS)
- Optical band
- Free-space optical (laser link)
- APT system
- Acquisition, Pointing, and Tracking for satellite tracking
- Adaptive optics
- Atmospheric compensation
- Primary location
- CSA headquarters, Saint-Hubert, Quebec
- Secondary location
- University of Waterloo IQC, Waterloo, Ontario
- Photon source developer
- National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and IQC
- Builder
- Honeywell Aerospace, Cambridge, Ontario
About
The Optical Quantum Ground Station (OQGS) is the primary ground element of the QEYSSat mission, built by Honeywell Aerospace as part of its CAD $30 million contract with the Canadian Space Agency. The station is installed at CSA headquarters in Saint-Hubert, Quebec, with a secondary station located at the University of Waterloo’s Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) Research Advancement Centre.
The OQGS transmits single photons upward to the QEYSSat microsatellite via a free-space optical link, generating quantum encryption keys using weak coherent pulse (WCP) and entangled photon source (EPS) methods. The station includes an advanced acquisition, pointing, and tracking (APT) subsystem to maintain optical alignment with the microsatellite as it passes overhead, adaptive optics to compensate for atmospheric turbulence, and single-photon detection hardware.
The quantum photon sources for the ground stations were developed by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the University of Waterloo IQC. A secondary station at IQC allows science team members to operate their own experiments during passes, supporting quantum physics research alongside the operational QKD demonstration.
Documentation
No public datasheet yet — request the datasheet / ICD from the supplier.
