During the first Period, LaiQa made significant progress in advancing the technologies required for space-based QKD. The consortium has successfully completed the design phase for several key components and laid the groundwork for future demonstrations.
A major focus has been the development of space-suitable EPPS and P&M source. The EPPS design has been finalised with compact dimensions and low power consumption, incorporating features aimed at space robustness that will be validated through environmental testing. The P&M source advanced in parallel, with technical specifications defined and a critical design choice made to ensure reliance on European suppliers, thereby strengthening Europe’s sovereignty in quantum technologies. Simulations confirmed that the performance of both sources will exceed EuroQCI requirements in terms of secure key generation
Progress was also made on next-generation building blocks for the quantum internet. A photonic integrated circuit source was fabricated and tested, already demonstrating high-quality entanglement in a chip smaller than a square millimetre. A prototype quantum memory was set up using erbium-doped crystals and cryogenic environments, validating the first steps towards quantum repeater architectures.
On the ground segment, partners advanced the LaiQa Receiver Breadboard by integrating adaptive optics to enhance free-space-to-fiber coupling. In parallel, the initial design of the hybrid portable optical ground station was completed, identifying and defining the different functional blocks required for both classical and quantum communication.
Complementing the hardware work, LaiQa delivered the first version of a Network Planning Tool, which integrates atmospheric data, orbital dynamics, and security protocol models to optimise system performance in real-time scenarios. This software is already being used to assess different deployment options across European ground stations.
Finally, the project has taken an active role in standardisation. It contributed to new European technical work items on quantum sources under CEN-CENELEC, reinforcing Europe’s leadership in defining global norms. Market analysis and an initial exploitation roadmap were also completed, identifying pathways for commercialisation and long-term impact.
