Following a competitive tender process, the Quantum Communications Hub selected the Dutch company ISISpace Group (ISISPACE) as the provider of satellite systems and services in support of the Hub’s In Orbit Demonstration (IOD) mission to demonstrate distribution of quantum encryption keys from space. Founded in 2006 and based primarily in The Netherlands, ISISpace is one of the leading companies in the small satellite market, specialized in realizing innovative turn-key small satellite missions including launch and operations for in-orbit delivery.

The specific platform to be employed is a 12U CubeSat bus. The satellite platform will be placed into a Low-Earth Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO), the exact details of which will be confirmed once a precise launch date is booked. It will provide overpasses of the Optical Ground Station (OGS) in the UK, principally the Hub’s own OGS at the Heriot-Watt campus, in Edinburgh, Scotland (see below).