The satellite mission EAGLE-1 represents an important step towards a future pan-European secure quantum key distribution (QKD) network. The public-private partnership behind the mission consists of a consortium of universities, research institutes, and companies partially funded by ESA, the European Union, and supported by national delegations. This unique combination of academic partners and industry facilitates a swift knowledge transfer from basic research to commercial application. Within the consortium, Tesat-Spacecom (TESAT) is responsible for developing and integrating the payload assembly of the low-earth orbit EAGLE-1 satellite. In addition, TESAT provides the SCOT80 laser terminal with minor adaptations for the mission. Here, we report on the status, technical aspects and TESATs contribution to the satellite-to-ground prepare-and-measure QKD mission.
@article{arxiv.2505.20838,
title = {The European Satellite-Based QKD System EAGLE-1},
author = {Thomas Hiemstra and David Hasler and Domenico Paone and Fabian Reichert and Frank Heine and Julian Struck},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.20838},
year = {2025}
}