SpooQies Satellite Quantum Key Distribution

SpeQtral is a Singapore company co-founded by Chune Yang Lum and Dr Robert Bedington, both formerly of the Centre for Quantum Technologies, and headquartered at Fusionopolis. It is building a quantum key distribution (QKD) network that combines satellite links with terrestrial fibre, so that governments, banks and other sensitive users can exchange encryption keys that remain secure against future quantum computers and over distances fibre QKD cannot reach.

SpooQies is a dedicated QKD satellite or constellation based on the SpeQtral-1 design, supporting entanglement-based and prepare-and-measure payloads and delivering keys to optical ground stations worldwide, with SpeQtral handling orbital delivery. The portfolio also includes SQUINT, a space-qualified 1U entangled photon source and receiver producing up to 45 million pairs per second; the Backend Quantum Unit that lets existing optical ground stations receive quantum signals; and the PQX key delivery device with an ETSI GS QKD 014 API.

• SpooQies satellites: dedicated QKD satellite or constellation based on the 16U SpeQtral-1 design.
• Dual protocols: supports BB84 prepare-and-measure and BBM92 entanglement-based QKD.
• SQUINT source: space-qualified 1U entangled photon source generating up to 45 million pairs per second.
• Backend Quantum Unit: plug-and-play module that upgrades existing optical ground stations for quantum reception.
• PQX key delivery: combines classical and quantum cryptography with integrated key management.
• Flight heritage: SpooQy-1 (2019) and SpeQtre (launched November 2025) demonstrator satellites.

• Telecom operators and satellite operators in Vietnam piloting quantum-secure links between data centres and international gateways.
• Banks and financial infrastructure providers protecting interbank key exchange against future quantum threats.
• Research institutes building optical ground stations that join a regional quantum-secure network.

• Key exchange whose security rests on physics rather than computational hardness, protecting data against future quantum attacks.
• Satellite links extend QKD beyond the distance limits of terrestrial fibre to connect sites across countries.
• Turnkey delivery of a sovereign satellite or constellation, including orbital delivery, reduces programme risk for national buyers.
• Standard interfaces such as the ETSI GS QKD 014 API ease integration with existing encryption and network equipment.

Governments and financial regulators are preparing for the quantum computing threat to current encryption, and Singapore's central bank has run quantum security trials with banks. Space-based QKD is emerging as the way to link secure networks across borders, and Southeast Asian governments, telcos and satellite operators are exploring sovereign quantum-secure communication capabilities.

Headquartered at Connexis South, Fusionopolis, Singapore; co-founders Chune Yang Lum (CEO) and Dr Robert Bedington (CTO), with Prof. Artur Ekert as Chief Scientific Officer. Investors listed include Golden Gate Ventures, SGInnovate, Space Angels, TIS Intec and Shasta VC. MoUs with SES, and with Toshiba and ST Engineering for quantum-secure communication in Southeast Asia; took part in MAS quantum security trials.