Experimental verification of the feasibility of a quantum channel between Space and Earth

Paolo Villoresi, Thomas Jennewein, Fabrizio Tamburini, Markus Aspelmeyer, Cristian Bonato, Rupert Ursin, Claudio Pernechele, Vincenza Luceri, Giuseppe Bianco, Anton Zeilinger, Cesare Barbieri

Published 2008-03-12Version 1

Extending quantum communication to Space environments would enable to perform fundamental experiments on quantum physics as well as applications of quantum information at planetary and interplanetary scales. Here, we report the first experimental implementation of a scheme for single-photon exchange between a satellite and an Earth-based station. We built an experiment that mimics a single photon source on a satellite, exploiting the telescope at the Matera Laser Ranging Observatory of the Italian Space Agency to detect the transmitted photons. Weak laser pulses, emitted by the ground-based station, are directed towards a satellite equipped with cube-corner retroreflectors. These reflect a small portion of the pulse, with an average of less-than-one photon per pulse directed to our receiver, as required for the faint-pulse quantum communication. We were able to detect returns from satellite Ajisai, a low-earth orbit geodetic satellite, whose orbit has a perigee height of 1485 km.