#quantumcommunications

China 15th Five-Year Plan

The 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030) positions quantum technology as a key driver of economic growth in China. In a strategic shift from academic research to commercial implementation, the new strategy names quantum technology the leader of seven “future industries” that will drive economic growth. This elevates the sector from laboratory successes to robust commercialization supported by large state investment and tailored regulatory assistance.

Rapidly Growing Market

China's recent market performance shows its quantum ambitions. Quantum computing alone reached RMB 11.56 billion (US$1.61 billion) by 2025, expanding 30% yearly. Companies in the space increased 40% from 93 in 2023 to 153 in 2024.

This surge is due to government resource distribution changes. The 15th Five-Year Plan prioritizes commercialization through government procurement, manufacturing subsidies, and large-scale application deployments over university research grants. Three regional quantum-focused funds received RMB 121.8 billion (US$17.5 billion) from the National Venture Guidance Fund to achieve these targets.

The Three Quantum Tech Pillars

China has three quantum subsectors with different maturity levels:

Quantum communications dominates the business with 60% of revenue. China's 10,000-kilometer Beijing-Shanghai trunk line and 2016 Micius satellite are the world's longest operational quantum backbone and sole quantum communications satellite. Quantum encryption allows ICBC to remotely transport data and make money.

Hardware achievements include the 107-qubit Zuchongzhi 3.2 superconducting processor and 504-qubit Tianyan-504 cluster system. Quantum computing is the fastest-growing segment, anticipated to account for 41% of the quantum market by 2025.

International commercialization of Hanyuan-1 neutral-atom quantum computers began in 2025.

Despite its early commercialization, quantum sensing is utilized in high-tech production. CATL and Gotion High-Tech, battery giants, use quantum sensors to assure manufacturing quality.

Geographic Innovation Clusters

Four geographic hubs with expertise have converged industry:

Hefei, China's "quantum capital," has USTC and Origin Quantum. Superconducting computer manufacturing and advanced R&D remain there.

Beijing: The national standards and policy center, Beijing emphasizes quantum sensing and measurement.

Guangzhou and Shenzhen: In addition to having the first photonic quantum computer production line, Shenzhen and Guangdong prioritize commercial products and large-scale manufacturing.

Shanghai & Yangtze River Delta: The cluster emphasizes financial services and industrial applications due to the region's banks and innovative manufacturing.

Foreign Players' Opportunities and Challenges

Foreign involvement is nuanced in the 15th Five-Year Plan. The amended Foreign Investment Encouraged Catalogue provides reduced corporate tax rates and tariff exemptions for foreign-invested enterprises for quantum computing research and development starting in February 2026.

However, “bifurcation risks” persist. Foreign providers can use healthcare and banking apps, but government and defense sectors are mainly blocked. Western export restrictions on advanced components have promoted Chinese “domestic substitution”.

The supply chain gaps where multinational enterprises can make a difference remain. Chinese expertise in cryogenic control systems, high-end measuring tools, and Helium-3 remains poor. Software and algorithm development allows multinational companies to license technology to Chinese industrial customers without shipping hardware.

Close Window

While domestic “state-supported champions” like China Telecom Quantum Group and QuantumCTek quickly improve, experts warn the window for entering China's quantum sector is shrinking. A major change is that the 15th Five-Year Plan makes quantum a competitive industry necessity rather than just research.

LuxQuanta News

LuxQuanta, a Spanish deep-tech company, completed a proof of concept (PoC) for its NOVA LQ quantum cybersecurity system, advancing European quantum sovereignty. This confirmation by the MADQuantum-CM project proves that quantum-safe communications are now deployable for urban fiber networks, not just lab experiments.

The “MADQ Business Venture” program used MADQCI, the Community of Madrid's quantum communications infrastructure, for the experiments. LuxQuanta repeatable technical data replicates the unique operational constraints of a metropolitan network, such as traffic, noise, and fiber loss, enabling large-scale quantum key distribution (QKD) deployment.

Getting Past 100km and Living Together

One of this proof of concept's biggest achievements is constant quantum key distribution over 100 kilometers of standard single-mode optical fiber. Quantum signals, like regular data, are brittle and difficult to convey great distances. Yet LuxQuanta's CV-QKD method has proven reliable.

NOVA LQ could fully coexist on the same fiber with classical DWDM traffic, which was most crucial. This means data center and telecom operators can protect their networks without investing money on “dark fiber” or parallel infrastructure. Businesses can also add quantum security to their active networks, reducing complexity and deployment costs.

Scalable Modern City Architecture

Scalability becomes infrastructure owners' key priority as metropolitan networks become increasingly complex. One transmitter serves several receivers in point-to-multipoint configurations, which the MADQuantum Project examined.

This architectural breakthrough revolutionizes quantum security economics. By minimizing node hardware duplication, operators can save integration time and simplify network designs. Thus, NOVA LQ is perfect for:

Connections between data centers

Government and vital infrastructure Metropolitan fiber networks serve varied commercial clients Information-Theoretic Future Threat Security This technique is urgent because of “Harvest now, decrypt later” attacks, in which malicious actors intercept encrypted data today to decrypt it when large-scale quantum computers are accessible.

NOVA LQ from LuxQuanta provides information-theoretic security by combining QKD at the physical layer. Computational assumptions do not affect this security, unlike classical encryption, which depends on mathematical difficulty. It protects against advanced cyberthreats and future quantum computing cryptography threats.

Information-theoretic security applies even to attackers with infinite computational power. The remark to independence from computational assumptions contextualizes this cryptography knowledge.

Expanding Global Footprint

This Madrid PoC victory is the latest major event for Barcelona-based firm. Big Sur Ventures and A&G led LuxQuanta's €8 million Series A in October 2025. EIC Fund, Corning, and GTD also contributed.

Additionally, the company is expanding globally. LuxQuanta showed a quantum-safe network at the AWS Singapore Innovation Hub a few months ago, protecting financial institution data center infrastructure.

Vision and Project Support

The MADQuantum-CM project is part of the EU's Next Generation EU and Spain's Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan.

The PoC data provides a solid foundation for operators and infrastructure owners to evaluate quantum-secure deployments on existing fiber networks, according to LuxQuanta CEO Vanesa Díaz.

New York University News

Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand secured $1 million in congressionally directed expenditure for New York University (NYU) to invest in advanced scientific research and U.S. competitiveness. This investment aims to boost NYU's quantum science research, which could transform materials science, quantum computers, quantum communications, and national technological leadership.

The funding was announced during Fiscal Year 2026 federal appropriations. Congress allocates funding items for scientific, academic, and local projects. This funding will give NYU a Thermal Laser Epitaxy (TLE) system, a cutting-edge quantum research instrument. This will improve the university's experimental capacity and advance quantum materials and technology.

Strategic Quantum Science Investment

Quantum computing, sensing, and materials research are breakthrough topics of science in the 21st century. These technologies could exceed conventional computers in data processing, encryption, and physical system modeling. But precise tools and infrastructure to operate with and observe matter at the atomic level are needed to realize this potential.

NYU plans to buy a sophisticated TLE system that offers atomic-level control over ultra-pure material layers with this federal funding. Such systems are needed to make quantum computers and quantum sensing materials. NYU's investment in TLE positions it to lead materials-by-design research for quantum applications like secure communication platforms and next-generation semiconductors.

Combining Industry and Academic Innovation

NYU President Linda G. Mills told lawmakers the importance of upgrading research infrastructure and the funding's wider consequences. NYU and research community members stated on social media that the federal funding will boost NYU's experimental capabilities and attract industrial and academic partners.

“They are grateful to Senators Schumer and Gillibrand for making this important investment in quantum research equipment possible,” Mills added, reflecting NYU's leadership. She said the funds will support research that could benefit advanced manufacturing, technology, finance, and other areas, reflecting quantum physics' multidisciplinary nature.

Quantum physics specialists say research facilities like NYU are crucial to translating scientific discoveries into practical applications. Colleges provide labs with cutting-edge equipment to train workers who can drive innovation and ensure the US remains a global leader in a quantum-impacted technology environment.

Support from Senate and Congress

Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, senators on key spending committees, helped secure the funding. Their campaign is part of larger efforts to divert federal funds to state research facilities, particularly in fields with economic and technical potential.

In the same budget cycle as NYU's assistance, the senators announced considerable government spending on infrastructure, education, job creation, and community health projects in New York. These allotments show how targeted congressional investments can boost growth in several areas.

Schumer has long supported federal financing for cutting-edge research, and as Senate Majority Leader, he shapes science and technology policy. His legislation on high-performance computing and semiconductor research complements NYU's quantum research commitment. The increased NYU funding for research equipment is part of a federal focus on scientific competitiveness.

How Quantum Affects the Nation and Economy

The quantum race—often portrayed as a competition between nations and corporations—has major geopolitical implications. China and EU members have launched many quantum endeavors to lead sensing, secure communications, and quantum computing. The U.S. government and academic institutions have invested to maintain its leadership in this subject.

Quantum computing could revolutionize numerical simulation and optimization-intensive fields like materials science, drug development, cryptography, and financial modeling. Quantum computers can perform calculations 10 times faster than classical computers, enabling previously unachievable solutions. However, years of theoretical research and robust experimental infrastructure are needed to reach that potential, making NYU's TLE system and other tools crucial.

Beyond scholarly interest, quantum research funding boosts the economy. Universities that lead quantum science attract talented researchers, students, private funding, and industry partnerships. Innovation ecosystems enable high-tech enterprises and create skilled jobs. Long-term economic competitiveness for New York and the US depends on creating such ecosystems.

The Research Community Responds

The academic and research communities are excited about NYU's funding announcement. Academics and researchers applauded the federal money surge on social media, saying it may speed up university work. Some commenters stressed the importance of introducing TLE technology to the US since it can reduce dependency on imported equipment and offer indigenous materials scientists an edge.

STEM education is encouraged by the funding, say educators and scientists. By using cutting-edge research tools in their classrooms, NYU can increase experiential learning and prepare students for careers in digital industries.

Looking Ahead:

The monies available currently can buy hardware, but NYU's aims likely go beyond that. The institution is becoming a regional quantum research center by partnering on physics, engineering, computer science, and applied mathematics projects.

SpeQtral and Addvalue Launch Integrated Satellite QKD Solutions in Singapore

SpeQtral and Addvalue IDRS

SpeQtral and Addvalue, Singaporean companies, partnered in February 2026 to produce quantum-secure satellite services. This alliance combines quantum key distribution (QKD) with real-time data relay technologies to offer secure, continuous communications. The cooperation hopes to decrease ground station scheduling delays for low-earth orbit missions by using Addvalue's IDRS connection. This endeavor helps Singapore's space policy by fostering domestic innovation and building global networks for cryptography issues. The combined business hopes to turn quantum communications experiments into reliable, commercial space economy security solutions.

SpeQtral Pte. Ltd. and Addvalue Innovation Pte. Ltd. have signed an MoU to develop a quantum key distribution (QKD) satellite system, marking a significant advancement in the global telecommunications and space industries. The Space Summit 2026 agreement advances Singapore's goal of quantum-secure, robust communications for next-generation networks.

In attendance were Addvalue CEO Tan Khai Pang and SpeQtral Co-founder and CEO Lum Chune Yang. The Executive Director of the Office for Space Technology & Industry (OSTIn), Jonathan Hung, considered this collaboration important for the nation.

Bringing Demonstration and Service Together

This cooperation aims to commercialize space-based quantum technology from experimental demonstrations. Addvalue provides its Singapore-developed InterSatellite Data Relay System (IDRS) and SpeQtral provides quantum knowledge.

The MoU requires the two companies to study Quantum Communication satellite constellation architecture and Concept of Operations. To meet real-world operational objectives, this study will create service-oriented QKD solutions that can manage real-time tasking and rapid key setup requests.

Lum Chune Yang, SpeQtral's CEO, stressed that “classical” connection is just as crucial as quantum. “Space-based QKD must be paired with reliable, real-time classical connectivity to translate demonstrations into services,” added Lum. SpeQtral can improve QKD passes, post-processing, and key distribution for prospective clients by integrating with Addvalue's IDRS.

IDRS and SpeQtre's Power

The collaboration leverages both institutions' strengths. Addvalue's revolutionary IDRS allows Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites to communicate 24/7 via GEO (Geostationary) links. IDRS, launched in November 2020 with Inmarsat (now Viasat), provides continuous IP sessions with data speeds over 200 kbps.

This “always-on” connection transforms quantum communications. It considerably reduces operating latency compared to standard ground station scheduling, which requires satellites to wait until they are above a ground station to receive instructions. IDRS excels at time-sensitive tasks like QKD service optimization and orchestration.

SpeQtral has significant “space heritage”. The company and RAL Space launched SpeQtre in November 2025. The SpeQtre project, which is being commissioned, uses a 12U CubeSat to demonstrate space-to-ground quantum communications, making Singapore a leader in quantum-secure networking.

Strategic Importance for Singapore and Others The agreement coincides with a global push to operationalize satellite-based QKD as the “quantum revolution” approaches. SpeQtral builds worldwide quantum networks to protect sovereign and business telecommunications from conventional and quantum-based cyberattacks as quantum computers challenge cryptographic norms.

Singapore is poised to claim a large share of the US$1.8 trillion space industry by 2035. The SpeQtral-Addvalue collaboration emphasizes operational availability and service readiness to keep Singapore-developed technology ahead of this transformation.

Local quantum-safe deployment attempts are expected to generate downstream demand for space-provided QKD keys, which must interact seamlessly with terrestrial fibre-based QKD infrastructure. This alliance supports Singapore's policy to strengthen its space sector and foster international collaboration by addressing the “satellite service layer” and improved resilience through IDRS.

Imagining the Quantum Internet

As the two companies explore go-to-market strategies, the goal is to build the quantum internet. LEO operations increasingly require fleetwide coordination and on-demand communications, said Addvalue CEO Tan Khai Pang. Tan said IDRS' 24/7 relay and secure IP continuity might support quantum secure services and speed up QKD satellite commissioning and operations.

SpeQtral and Addvalue are constructing a secure worldwide communication network that can withstand technological changes in the next decade by combining terrestrial and space-based technology.

SKY Perfect JSAT and SpeQtral Partner to Secure International Communications

Perfect JSAT Newsfrom Sky

SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation and SpeQtral Pte. Ltd. established a strategic capital and commercial partnership to redefine international data transmission security. This alliance combines a Singaporean pioneer's quantum science with a Japanese telecommunications giant's satellite expertise to prepare for the "Quantum Era."

Vision for 2030s

This alliance aims to accelerate ultra-secure satellite communications service commercialization. The two companies intend to use quantum cryptography to establish a secure information dissemination system that will mature in the 2030s.

This agreement was years in the making. Since fiscal 2018, SKY Perfect JSAT has studied satellite Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) commercialization. The SpeQtral partnership is the “next major step” in their long-term aim to integrate quantum security into their enormous space-based infrastructure.

SpeQtral -- Quantum Vanguard

SpeQtral, formed in 2018, is a quantum communications leader under CEO Chune Yang Lum. The company aims to build global quantum networks to protect enterprise and sovereign telecommunications networks.

SpeQtral's recent missions demonstrate its technology. The company launched SpeQtre, an entanglement-based quantum communications demonstrator satellite, alongside STFC's RAL Space on November 28, 2025. One of the first commercial space-to-ground quantum communications missions is the 12U CubeSat SpeQtre.

The business expects to launch SpeQtral-1, its first commercial QKD satellite demonstrator, in fiscal year 2027. This mission is expected to boost the company's satellite QKD market leadership and provide the foundation for the bigger collaboration. SpeQtral offers SpooQies, QuantOptix, SQUINT, and TarQIS to help transition to quantum-secure networking.

Pioneers of Space Business SKY Perfect JSAT

SKY Perfect JSAT Representative Director, President, and CEO Eiichi Yonekura has decades of expertise. Tokyo-based firm focuses on communications and space since 1994.

Geostationary satellites are used to supply satellite communication services by the Space Business, which is quickly developing its Space Intelligence Business. The company has acquired Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Earth observation satellites, expanding its national security focus.

“SKY PerfecTV!” distribution and broadcasting services make SKY Perfect JSAT famous in Japan. Because it provides fiber-optic retransmission and B2B media solutions, the company is a versatile partner for SpeQtral's terrestrial and space-based quantum solutions.

Technology: Quantum Revolution Defense

The “imminent quantum revolution” threat drives this collaboration. SpeQtral's technologies guard against traditional and impending quantum-based cyberattacks on cryptography, but they don't explain how quantum computing threatens encryption.

By combining their talents, the two institutions want to drive quantum communications innovation, which will underpin the quantum internet. QKD, a secure communication method that uses quantum physics to share cryptographic keys without eavesdropping, is the technology focus.

Strategic Coordination and Global Impact

The strategic capital and business partnership's structure shows significant operational and financial integration. The move takes SKY Perfect JSAT closer to supplying “ultra-secure” services to national security and business-to-business clients. SpeQtral can test and implement its solutions with a major international satellite operator's infrastructure and scale through the partnership.

Researchers Solve Telecom C-Band Single-Photon Indistinguishability 90% Issues

Deterministic Single-photon sources

The University of Stuttgart and Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg have built deterministic single photon sources, advancing quantum communications. For the first time, a solid-state emitter at the essential telecommunications C-band has exceeded a 91.7% photon indistinguishability barrier, closing the performance gap between on-demand sources and their probabilistic equivalents.

The Ideal Photon Search

“Quantum Internet” demands the ability to produce 100% identical, “indistinguishable” photons on demand. Long-distance quantum networking protocols and quantum logic gates use two-photon interference, which requires this characteristic.

Researchers have generally had two source options. Probabilistic spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) sources emit high-quality, indistinguishable photons at random times. This randomness makes scaling systems with dozens of photons, such photonic quantum computing, nearly hard.

However, semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are deterministic “artificial atoms” that release one photon every laser pulse. Despite their success at shorter wavelengths (780 nm to 960 nm), the scientific community has struggled to obtain great indistinguishability in the telecom C-band (about 1550 nm).

Starting the Revolution

The Nico Hauser, Matthias Bayerbach, and Stefanie Barz study team used a specific device architecture to overcome these challenges. Indium arsenide (InAs) quantum dot in InAlGaAs cladding is the source. A circular Bragg grating (CBG) resonator with the quantum dot increased photon output and reduced environmental decoherence. In Nature Communications, the researchers noted that optimum growth reduces dephasing time while incorporation into the CBG resonator reduces excitonic durations. Ternary digital alloying improved crystal quality and structural refinement.

Meeting 90% Benchmark

The study's most notable result is 91.7 ± 0.2% two-photon interference visibility. This value, much higher than past estimates of 72% for comparable devices, sets a new bar for C-band spectral spectrum indistinguishability.

To reach this result, the researchers meticulously examined four laser excitation systems:

Excitation over the band gap: 800 nm pumping. Incoherent excitation with LA-phonon assistance: Blue-tuned from resonance.

Pumping 1404.2 nm is resonance #1.

Pumping 1498.2 nm is resonance #2.

The LA-phonon-assisted excitation approach achieved the maximum indistinguishability and lowest multi-photon emission probability with a second-order autocorrelation value (g(2)(τ=0)) of 0.017 ± 0.001. The researchers attributed this success to the shortest excitonic lifespan under this stimulation mode, which decreases noise exposure.

Moving toward real-world implementation

Telecom C-band selection is not random. This wavelength range is the norm for silicon-based integrated photonics and modern fiber-optic networks since it loses the least signal. To enable scalable quantum technologies, the team showed that deterministic sources can match probabilistic SPDC sources in photon quality.

These devices must overcome difficulties before being deployed in commercial networks. Despite good photon quality, the current setup's efficiency is just 0.5% (adjusted to 2.1% with setup losses). The researchers found that blinking—when the quantum dot randomly stops emitting—is the greatest constraint with a blinking-related efficiency of 26.9%.

Significant Turning Point

The study is a “key milestone” that makes solid-state emitters suitable for photonic quantum networking despite efficiency issues. The authors noted that our findings are crucial to scalable quantum dots-based photonic quantum devices that integrate on-demand operation with exceptional photon quality.

High-frequency quantum cascade lasers

When exposed to external optical feedback, ordinarily stable Terahertz Quantum Cascade Lasers can reliably enter a state of intense, complicated, and highly advantageous chaos, according to revolutionary research. This enables improved LiDAR systems, secure connections, and high-resolution sensing.

Stability, quantum coherence, and predictable behaviour, especially in precision instruments like lasers, have been prioritised in optics technical advancement for years.

However, a recent study on Terahertz Quantum Cascade Lasers (THz QCL) Combs has methodically shown the opposite strategy: a stable light source can be precisely guided into high-complexity chaos, which could be useful for innovative applications. This study reveals that instability can be induced and managed, expanding our understanding of non-linear dynamics in THz laser physics and expanding our device design and application options.

Researchers Xiaoqiong Qi, Carlo Silvestri, Thomas Taimre, and Aleksandar D. Rakic found chaotic dynamics in external optical feedback-driven Terahertz Quantum Cascade Lasers (THCL) combs. Their findings expand Terahertz gap non-linear laser physics and position THz technology for cutting-edge usage needing complex, high-bandwidth transmissions.

Terahertz Frontier, QCL Power

Microwaves and infrared light are separated by the "Terahertz Gap," the Terahertz (THz) spectral region between 0.1 and 10 THz. This light is essential for non-destructive testing, medical imaging, and security scanning because it can pass through paper, clothes, and plastics.

Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) technology is driving this difficult gap exploration. QCLs are unipolar, unlike diode lasers, which mix electrons and holes across a semiconductor bandgap. They use well constructed semiconductor heterostructures where electrons fall in energy levels that produce photons.

This method accurately tunes QCLs to emit high-power THz light. A QCL working in a multi-mode regime produces a frequency comb (FC) with finely defined, regularly spaced lines that resemble comb teeth. QCL combs are ultra-precise rulers used in modern metrology due to their stability in the THz frequency range.

Complexity Induced by Optical Feedback

The study investigated what would happen if these extraordinarily stable light sources were deliberately disturbed. External optical feedback, which reflects some laser light back into the laser cavity, was used to cause this disturbance. This is often done with an external mirror.

The researchers systematically tracked the laser's performance as they steadily increased the power of the reflected light using a complicated framework of linked rate equations that accounts for delayed feedback. Even minor input can change the comb spectrum, according to models.

QCL comb initially operated in a steady, multi-mode way with no spectrum distortion in weak-feedback regime. As the researchers increased the feedback intensity to C = 13.86, the system underwent a spectacular evolution with several bifurcations.

Bifurcations are crucial points where a small change in a parameter, such feedback strength, causes the system to behave suddenly and qualitatively. The laser's output oscillated irregularly as additional modes formed, the comb spectrum increased, and quantum dynamics became more complex. After increasing feedback intensity, the system switched from intricate periodicity to chaos emission. Simulations and experiments indicated that resilient chaos required a high-power laser and multi-mode emission.

Chaos Signature: Lyapunov Exponents

The Lyapunov exponent study confirmed that this emission was exceedingly intricate and unpredictable. Chaos is defined by the system's sensitivity to starting conditions, which the Lyapunov exponent measures. The pace at which neighbouring trajectories diverge in a dynamical system is measured mathematically.

Chaos was confirmed in the Terahertz Quantum Cascade Lasers THz QCL by computing a positive maximum Lyapunov exponent. This showed that the laser's output was sensitive to even slight fluctuations, making its long-term output deterministic but unexpected. Calculations showed that laser output complexity increased with light bandwidth. The team demonstrated that its scientific methodology could create and regulate THz chaos.

From Instability to Innovation: Chaotic Light Applications

Even though frequency metrology requires stability, controlled, high-bandwidth chaotic signals open potentially new practical options. Scientists say this chaos can be manufactured, not a deficiency.

Quantum communications is crucial and immediate. Decoding chaotic signals is difficult. By synchronising two chaotic lasers, one as the transmitter and one as the receiver, the high-bandwidth chaotic carrier wave can conceal information. The transmission is secure since an eavesdropper without the synchronized key would only detect high-frequency noise.

Due to its complex spectral signature and large bandwidth, chaotic THz light can help LiDAR and high-resolution sensing applications. In THz imaging and sensing, chaotic signals improve depth resolution and reduce speckle noise, creating better images. By enhancing interference resistance and delivering novel distance and velocity data processing methods, chaotic signals could outperform near- and mid-infrared LiDAR technology. Chaos benefits applications like random number generation.