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(GIST OF SCIENCE REPORTER) Secure satellite-based Quantum Communication system

(May-2023)

A team at the Raman Research Institute (RRI) based in Bengaluru — an autonomous institution of the Department of Science and Technology — has achieved a significant milestone in its quest to perfect a secure satellite-based communication system, harnessing quantum computing technology.
The research team has successfully demonstrated a secure communication link between a stationary source and a moving platform. This comes on the heels of an earlier demonstration of a similar link between two fixed stations.
To establish the link, the team used Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) — a technique in cryptography which allows two remote users to establish a secure ‘key’ to lock and unlock the communication using the principles of quantum mechanics.
This method – using Quantum bits or Qubits – is considered superior to the conventional method where digital bits – ones and zeroes – were hitherto used to encode and decode the data. No matter how long the code and how complicated the algorithm used for coding the data, supercomputers today are able – in time – to crack such codes. Qubits which at any given time can be a one or a zero, make the task of cracking the code much more difficult – hence the world-wide interest in harnessing QKD for critical communications.