
04/06/2025
A quantum researcher in Singapore has warned that China’s Micius satellite, the world’s first quantum satellite, may be vulnerable to hacking due to measurable time delays between its onboard lasers, which could be exploited to distinguish between decoy and signal states in quantum key distribution.
Alexander Miller, formerly of Moscow-based QSpace Technologies and now at the National University of Singapore, analysed satellite-to-ground data from 2021 to 2022 and found delays of up to 300 picoseconds, allowing a theoretical attacker to identify photon states with 98.7% accuracy.
The findings, published on arXiv and not yet peer-reviewed, raise concerns about the implementation security of quantum communication systems, despite the theoretical robustness of QKD protocols like BB84 used by Micius.