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NASA · STS-85

The system

Designed as one system.

Four layers, secure, connect, process, understand. Together they are the reason MixQuac exists as one company.

Secure

Quantum security

Generate and distribute key material whose strength comes directly from physics and is independent of an attacker's compute budget.

Milestones

  1. QCRNGQuantum cryptographic random number generation, the entropy source underneath every key.QCRNG · 2026
  2. QHKDQuantum hybrid key distribution, combining post-quantum algorithms with quantum-derived key material.QHKD · 2027
  3. QKGQuantum key generation, key material produced at both ends of a link.QKG · 2028
  4. QKDQuantum key distribution, key exchange whose security rests on measurement, so interception is detectable.QKD · 2029+
02

Connect

Optical communication

Move the data that radio links cannot, over a beam that is narrow enough to be hard to intercept.

Milestones

  1. OPT-1First-generation laser communication terminal.Laser communication system · 2027
  2. OPT-2Second-generation terminal at higher link rates.Laser communication system · 2029+
03

Process

Edge compute

Run the model where the data is created, inside a CubeSat power and thermal budget.

Milestones

  1. SoCSystem-on-chip edge device for on-board AI inference.SoC · 2028
  2. DPUData-processing unit for orbital compute workloads.DPU SoC · 2029+

Understand

Geospatial intelligence

Turn pixels into an answer someone can act on, with the analysis and its confidence reported together.

Milestones

  1. GEOAIAI analysis of Earth-observation data.GeoAI · 2026
  2. OPT-EDGEModel optimization for edge devices.Optimization · 2027
  3. SAASSubscription access to processed geospatial intelligence.SaaS · 2028

Technical FAQ

Questions engineers ask first.

How is this different from buying an optical terminal and a QKD box separately?

Today you would buy the parts separately. The bet is that the integration is the hard part and the durable one: a shared trust boundary from entropy source to decision, one power and thermal budget, one set of interfaces. We are building the layers in the order that lets each one be sold before the next exists.

If post-quantum algorithms exist, why bother with quantum key distribution?

Post-quantum cryptography and QKD answer different questions. PQC replaces the mathematics and runs on the hardware you already have; QKD changes the physics of key exchange so that interception is detectable. We start with the algorithms and the entropy because they deploy now, and treat QKD as the later layer it is.

Why start a satellite company with a random number generator?

Because it is the smallest part of the architecture that is independently useful. A quantum entropy source is a real product for terrestrial security infrastructure today, it is the foundation the rest of the security layer is built on, and building it teaches us the components we later need to fly.

What technology readiness level are you at?

We have not published TRL figures because we have not completed the assessments that would make them meaningful. The development status shown on each product page is set by hand and kept current.