Energy efficient optical tracking for space quantum communication
Fuente:
arXiv
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| Auteurs principaux: | , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Publié: |
2026
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| _version_ | 1866918356808892416 |
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| author | Vokes, Eric Rao, Vinod N. Spencer, Elinore Kumar, Rupesh |
| author_facet | Vokes, Eric Rao, Vinod N. Spencer, Elinore Kumar, Rupesh |
| contents | Power consumption is a critical constraint for CubeSat based quantum communication, where tracking systems often dominate the onboard power budget. We demonstrate an energy-efficient approach that enables reliable satellite tracking at substantially reduced beacon power by treating tracking as a weak-signal estimation task. Using a closed-loop system with fine steering mirrors and higher-order Kalman filters on ground, we can maintain stable tracking at a transmitted power equivalent to 34 mW over a -60 dB satellite to ground optical channel. Our results show that the resulting penalties on QKD bit error rates and signal-to-noise ratios are negligible, allowing for more efficient power allocation to quantum payloads in CubeSat missions. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_22160 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Energy efficient optical tracking for space quantum communication Vokes, Eric Rao, Vinod N. Spencer, Elinore Kumar, Rupesh Quantum Physics Power consumption is a critical constraint for CubeSat based quantum communication, where tracking systems often dominate the onboard power budget. We demonstrate an energy-efficient approach that enables reliable satellite tracking at substantially reduced beacon power by treating tracking as a weak-signal estimation task. Using a closed-loop system with fine steering mirrors and higher-order Kalman filters on ground, we can maintain stable tracking at a transmitted power equivalent to 34 mW over a -60 dB satellite to ground optical channel. Our results show that the resulting penalties on QKD bit error rates and signal-to-noise ratios are negligible, allowing for more efficient power allocation to quantum payloads in CubeSat missions. |
| title | Energy efficient optical tracking for space quantum communication |
| topic | Quantum Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.22160 |