57. Heidelberger Physik Graduiertentage

TURNING QUANTUM INNOVATION INTO REALITY - FROM RESEARCH TO EUROPEAN SATELLITE NETWORKS

Pascal Kobel

OHB SE, headquartered in Bremen, is one of Europe’s leading aerospace and technology companies, employing around 4,000 people worldwide. This presentation provides an overview of OHB’s activities across the quantum technology value chain and the strategy for developing a satellite-based backbone for the European Quantum Communications Infrastructure (Euro-QCI).

The talk highlights national demonstration missions such as QUBE-I and QUBE-II, which are validating the feasibility of satellite-based quantum key distribution (QKD) for secure communications already today, as well as planned European initiatives such as SAGA, which are strengthen Europe’s technological sovereignty in cybersecurity and space infrastructure.

Using the example of OHB’s Quantum Random Number Generators (QRNGs), we illustrate how quantum effects can be transformed into trusted security technologies and discuss the challenges of bringing quantum innovations from the laboratory into operational space systems.

Looking beyond first-generation quantum communication systems, future architectures based on entanglement are expected to enable new capabilities in secure communications, distributed quantum computing, and quantum sensing.