HRL Laboratories and Boeing Achieve Key Milestone in Quantum Entanglement Swapping Satellite Mission

HRL Laboratories and Boeing have completed construction and technical validation on a quantum communication subassembly for Boeing’s Q4S satellite mission – a first-of-its-kind effort to demonstrate four-photon quantum entanglement swapping in space. This powerful capability is essential to enabling future secure communications and distributed quantum networks.

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HRL Laboratories, a world leader in solid-state quantum technologies, prepares the Q4S subassembly build for Boeing environmental testing – a key milestone toward the future space mission to demonstrate quantum entanglement swapping in space.

With this milestone, HRL has successfully completed construction of the fully integrated, space-grade subassembly, a significant step toward flight readiness. The build brings together our optical board, control electronics and final thermo-mechanical packaging into a single, space-ready system. It has already passed initial end-to-end software verification.

“HRL has delivered an optical lab’s worth of capability in a compact, 15kg integrated space-capable assembly,” said Jay Lowell, Chief Scientist of Boeing’s Disruptive Computing, Networks & Sensors organization. “After validating the space qualification of our subassembly in our Boeing El Segundo Space Simulation Laboratory, this payload subassembly will serve as the ground twin to mirror the on-orbit payload which is currently in production.”

In validation tests, the team demonstrated quantum entanglement for each of the two sources in this subassembly.

“Demonstrating entanglement swapping between these two entangled photon pairs, will enable us to entangle previously unconnected nodes, a foundational breakthrough for building secure, scalable quantum computing and sensing networks in space,” said Jennifer Ellis, Principal Investigator at HRL.

• To ensure reliable performance in orbit, the team rigorously tested the subassemblies of the single photon sources.
  • Each source performed well, showing strong signal quality (fidelity between 0.8 and 0.9) and detecting over 2,500 matching photon pairs per second, enough to meet the project’s requirements for accurate quantum measurements.

“Validation and environmental testing are critical milestones on the path to a successful space mission,” said Rob Vasquez, CEO of HRL. “We’re proud to partner with Boeing on this pioneering demonstration and lay the groundwork for secure communications in space.”

Covered by United States Patents and Patents Pending

About Boeing:

A leading global aerospace company and top U.S. exporter, Boeing develops, manufactures and services commercial airplanes, defense products and space systems for customers in more than 150 countries. Our U.S. and global workforce and supplier base drive innovation, economic opportunity, sustainability and community impact. Boeing is committed to fostering a culture based on our core values of safety, quality and integrity.

About HRL Laboratories:

HRL Laboratories, LLC, California (www.hrl.com) pioneers the next frontiers of physical and information science. Delivering transformative technologies in automotive, aerospace and defense, HRL advances the critical missions of its customers. As a private company owned jointly by Boeing and GM, HRL is a source of innovations that advance the state of the art in profound and far-reaching ways.

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"Validation and environmental testing are critical milestones on the path to a successful space mission,” said Rob Vasquez, CEO of HRL.