QUBE-II Successfully Launched
03.05.2026
Impressions from the QUBE-II launch from left to right. The integrated QUBE-II satellite with deployed solar panels (image courtesy Kongsberg NanoAvionics), parts of the QUBE-II team on the launch event (image courtesy OHB), the CAS500-2-Mission satellite deployers (image courtesy SpaceX) and the Falcon9 rocket at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California (image courtesy SpaceX).
Today, Sunday 03.05.2026 the QUBE-II satellite has been successfully launched into orbit aboard the SpaceX’s CAS500-2 rideshare mission. Only a few hours after launch, first contact was established and satellite health has been confirmed.
The QUBE-II satellite will demonstrate the first-ever quantum key exchange between a CubeSat and a ground station, laying the foundation for cost-effective, unhackable global communications using a compact, lightweight optical terminal.
The QUBE-II satellite project is a joint research initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) on Quantum Communication. Zentrum für Telematik Würzburg (ZfT) is the satellite system responsible, while OHB System AG coordinates the overall system, including payloads from German Aerospace Center (DLR), Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg.
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E-Mail: info(at)telematik-zentrum.de
