Toward Un-Hackable Communication

TAU’s Center for Quantum Science and Technology has built the first ground station in Israel – and among a few worldwide – for optical and quantum communication with satellites. Experiments will center on proving the feasibility of beaming up and back from space via un-hackable “quantum keys” for encrypted data. Head of the Center, Prof. Yaron Oz, said that the work represents an “important first step towards demonstrating eavesdropping-proof communication using quantum methods.”

One of the first tasks of the ground station, which includes an observatory dome and powerful telescope, will be to test communication protocols with a TAU nanosatellite that was launched into space recently for this very purpose. Called TAU-SAT3, it was built at the Center for Nanosatellites and New Space of TAU’s Fleischman Faculty of Engineering. The shoe-boxed sized satellite is the third one sent up by TAU in less than two years.

“TAU is joining governments and giant corporations around the world in the race to protect sensitive information by harnessing the power of quantum,” said Prof. Oz. “We’re at the edge of game-changing technology, and our plan is to follow up on these initial experiments by soon sending up our own TAU quantum satellite.”