The EAGLE-1 optical ground station will serve as the main ground link for the system.
EAGLE-1 is being developed through a collaboration among ESA, the European Commission, and an industrial consortium led by SES.
TNO and Airbus were selected in November 2023 to architect the EAGLE-1 ground terminal.
The Noordwijk optical ground station will serve as the primary terrestrial link for the EAGLE-1 satellite.
After launch, EAGLE-1 will begin a three-year in-orbit validation campaign supported by the European Commission to test secure cross-border cryptographic distribution.
EAGLE-1 is slated for launch on an Arianespace Vega C rocket.
EAGLE-1 is the first European end-to-end demonstrator dedicated to satellite-based Quantum Key Distribution.
The EAGLE-1 optical ground station is designed to provide physical-layer protection against intercept, spoofing, and jamming attempts.
The optical ground station will support EAGLE-1, the European quantum communications demonstrator.
SES, Airbus Netherlands, and the Municipality of Noordwijk signed a ground lease agreement for an optical ground station for EAGLE-1 at the NL Space Campus in the Netherlands.
The EAGLE-1 optical ground station will use laser links to exchange cryptographic keys between the space segment and the ground segment.
EAGLE-1 is Europe’s end-to-end demonstration platform for space-based Quantum Key Distribution.
The EAGLE-1 optical ground station will be an Optical Ground Station rather than a traditional radio-frequency ground station.
The EAGLE-1 architecture transmits cryptographic keys via focused laser beams instead of traditional radio frequencies.
Only the key exchange in the EAGLE-1 system uses the quantum channel, while the communications it secures travel over conventional networks.
The Eagle-1 optical telescope will track the Eagle-1 satellite to maintain the precise laser link required by the system.
The Eagle-1 launch is now expected at the end of 2027 or in early 2028.
SITAEL is leading construction of the EAGLE-1 satellite.
SES and Airbus secured a site at the NL Space Campus in Noordwijk for the Eagle-1 optical ground station.
At that time, Eagle-1 was expected to launch in 2024.