Quantum Technology Strategy for Space Industry Executives: Command Link Security, Mission Architecture, and the Quantum Opportunity
Executive dialogue on quantum threats to satellite command links, mission architecture cryptography, and space sector supply chain risk.
Event Details
- Who else is in the room
- Senior level executive peers, industry leaders, experts in risk, technology and business. Specifically: CEOs, CTOs, and programme directors at satellite operators, launch providers, space agencies, and new space ventures with direct accountability for mission security and quantum technology strategy.
- Access
- Members only. Bundled with Expert Membership. Included with Expert Member tier
- Sponsor
- Organised by QSECDEF
- Facilitator
-
Anna Beata Kalisz Hedegaard Quantum Security Defence - Rules of engagement
- Chatham House Rule Chatham House Rule. Discussion is on the record; attribution is not. Participants may share what was said but not who said it.
- Format
- Structured Q&A Flexible between roundtable, structured Q&A or in-person hosted dinner
- Who Should Join
- This conversation is for CEOs, CTOs, and programme directors at satellite operators, launch providers, space agencies, and new space ventures where mission cryptographic security and quantum technology strategy are live executive concerns. It is relevant to senior officials at national space agencies and defence space programmes where CNSA 2.0 or equivalent migration obligations apply. It is not for engineering teams without strategic authority. Participants are expected to carry board-level accountability for mission security and technology strategy.
About This Conversation
Why this matters now
Satellites being designed and launched today will be in operational service when credible CRQC timelines materialise. Vehicles with 15-20 year operational lifetimes that are launched with RSA or ECC-based command link cryptography face a mid-mission cryptographic obsolescence problem that cannot be resolved by over-the-air update alone: many space-qualified processors have fixed cryptographic hardware. NIST's August 2024 finalisation of post-quantum standards created the algorithm baseline. The CCSDS security standards framework, which governs space data communications including command uplink authentication, has PQC integration as an active working item but has not yet ratified a dedicated PQC standard. For national security space programmes, CNSA 2.0 migration timelines create a mandatory planning horizon. For commercial satellite operators, the question is whether mission cryptographic architecture decisions made today will create an unacceptable exposure by the mid-2030s.
Outcomes
What you will leave with
- A frank comparative view from space industry peers on where PQC migration is actually progressing for command links, OTA update systems, inter-satellite links, and ground segment infrastructure, including which elements are proving hardest to move in space-qualified hardware
- A realistic assessment of quantum computing's near-term relevance for space mission planning and orbital optimisation: what is demonstrably achievable now versus what remains a research trajectory
- Clarity on the CCSDS standards landscape: which working items are progressing toward ratification, what that means for mission cryptographic planning, and what space operators can build to now without waiting for a final standard
- Peer experience on the supply chain dimension: where the space sector's dependence on a small number of radiation-hardened processor vendors creates a PQC migration dependency that operators cannot resolve unilaterally
- The sovereign capability framing: where quantum technology, across communications, sensing, and computing, is reshaping the competitive and strategic dynamics of national space programmes, and how executives are factoring that into programme investment decisions
Your Facilitator
Anna Beata Kalisz Hedegaard
Founder, QSECDEF
Anna Beata Kalisz Hedegaard has over 15 years of international experience in deep-tech, telecommunications, and defence communications networks. Her expertise spans intellectual property, advanced communications systems, and quantum secure communications. She has lived and worked across Poland, Denmark, the United States, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and Germany. Anna holds dual Master of Science degrees in Theoretical Cosmology from the University of Southern Denmark and Electrical Engineering from Wright State University, USA. She is the founder and board member of Quantum Security Defence.
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