QUBE-II
German technology demonstration satellite
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
QUBE-II is a German technology demonstration satellite developed for the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space[1][2][3][4][5][6] based on an 8U CubeSat bus[7] by the Lithuanian company NanoAvionics.[8] The mission's goal is to demonstrate quantum key exchange between a small satellite and a ground station.[9][10][8][11][12] The satellite includes a 2.5U Laser Communication Terminal (LCT) based on instruments flown on precursor missions CubeISL (launched in 2021) and QUBE-I (2024).[13] The mission's consortium was led by OHB and included DLR, FAU, LMU, and ZFT.[7] QUBE-II was launched on 3 May 2026 on the Falcon 9's CAS500-2 rideshare mission.[14][15][16][17]
| Mission type | Quantum key distribution |
|---|---|
| Operator |  BMFTR |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Bus | 8U CubeSat |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 3 May 2026, 7:00 UTC |
| Rocket | Falcon 9 CAS500-2 rideshare mission |
See also
- Eagle-1 – European quantum communication satellite
- Quantum Experiments at Space Scale – Chinese quantum research satellite
