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India Achieves Quantum Leap: First 5.56-km Free-Space Quantum-Secure Communication Link Demonstrated
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News18•03-10-2026, 18:30
India Achieves Quantum Leap: First 5.56-km Free-Space Quantum-Secure Communication Link Demonstrated
- •India successfully demonstrated its first free-space Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) link over 5.56 km, a significant step towards quantum-secure communication networks.
- •The field trial was conducted by QNu Labs in collaboration with BISAG-N and IIT Gandhinagar, establishing a secure quantum communication channel between BISAG-N and IIT Gandhinagar.
- •The trial achieved a stable Quantum Bit Error Rate below 5% and generated secure encryption keys at 230-260 bits per second, integrated with BISAG-N’s post-quantum cryptography-enabled Vedic Kavach platform.
- •This demonstration is crucial as free-space QKD transmits secure cryptographic keys through optical channels in open air, making it relevant for future long-distance and satellite-based quantum communication systems.
- •The integrated architecture combines QNu Labs’ hardware-based QKD device Armos with BISAG-N’s software-based post-quantum cryptography system, designed to maintain security even if the physical quantum communication channel is temporarily unavailable.
Key Questions Answered
India successfully demonstrated its first free-space Quantum Key Distribution link over a distance of 5.56 km between BISAG-N and IIT Gandhinagar.
The field trial was carried out by QNu Labs in collaboration with the Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N) and IIT Gandhinagar.
The trial combined QNu Labs' hardware-based Armos QKD device over free-space optical channels with BISAG-N's Vedic Kavach software-based post-quantum cryptography system featuring quantum random number generation.
