Colin Barras
The International Space Station could soon be relaying messages secured using quantum entanglement, if a proposed experiment is accepted by the European Space Agency later this year.
If the experiment was successful it would be a step towards unbeatably secure satellite communications between any two points on earth.
One form of quantum cryptography exploits the way particles like photons can become "entangled", into a state where any change to the properties of one affects the other, even across great distances. Einstein famously described it as "spooky action at a distance."
When entangled photons are used to communicate a secret pass-phrase, monitoring their quantum partners makes it possible to know instantly if someone has tried to intercept the message.
Distance record
The current distance record for transmitting entangled photons stands at 144 kilometres, between telescopes in the Canary Islands and Tenerife.
The team that set that record, led by Anton Zeilinger at the University of Vienna in Austria, now hopes to smash that figure by transmitting keys over thousands of kilometres using the International Space Station to carry the source of the quantum signals.
The International Space Station could soon be relaying messages secured using quantum entanglement, if a proposed experiment is accepted by the European Space Agency later this year.
If the experiment was successful it would be a step towards unbeatably secure satellite communications between any two points on earth.
One form of quantum cryptography exploits the way particles like photons can become "entangled", into a state where any change to the properties of one affects the other, even across great distances. Einstein famously described it as "spooky action at a distance."
When entangled photons are used to communicate a secret pass-phrase, monitoring their quantum partners makes it possible to know instantly if someone has tried to intercept the message.
Distance record
The current distance record for transmitting entangled photons stands at 144 kilometres, between telescopes in the Canary Islands and Tenerife.
The team that set that record, led by Anton Zeilinger at the University of Vienna in Austria, now hopes to smash that figure by transmitting keys over thousands of kilometres using the International Space Station to carry the source of the quantum signals.
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