Arqit, Es’hailSat and AIEE Demonstrate Quantum-Safe Satellite Security

Arqit Quantum Inc., Es’hailSat, the Qatar Satellite Company, and Advanced International Electronic Equipment Company (AIEE), a Middle East systems integrator, announced on September 1, 2026, a demonstration of quantum-safe security across operational satellite communications infrastructure. The collaboration integrated Arqit’s quantum-safe encryption technology within Es’hailSat’s live satellite environment at the 25.5/26° East hotspot, using existing operational infrastructure at Es’hailSat’s Tier-4 certified teleport in Doha.

Es’hailSat supplied the live environment using Es’hail-1. AIEE led systems integration and interoperability testing across the ground and network infrastructure. The partners said the demonstration introduced cryptographic protection across existing satellite-connected networks with no adverse effect on existing systems, services, or operational performance.

Live Satellite Network Integration

Es’hailSat provided the operational satellite path on Es’hail-1, which is co-located with Es’hail-2 at the 25.5/26° East neighborhood used for broadcast and communications across the Middle East and North Africa. Protection was introduced on existing satellite-connected networks and on ground and network infrastructure. The release does not state the spacecraft payload was modified or cryptography ran onboard Es’hail-1. It refers only to “Arqit’s quantum-safe encryption technology.”

Ground operations used Es’hailSat’s 50,000 sq m Al Ghuwayriyah teleport on the outskirts of Doha. The World Teleport Association awarded the facility Tier 4 certification in January 2025. The rating remains in effect for three years. AIEE handled integration and interoperability testing so the overlay sat on live ground and network systems vice on a laboratory testbed.

Company background.  Apart from this trial, Arqit’s current commercial line includes Encryption Intelligence, which inventories cryptographic assets, and NetworkSecure, a software overlay Arqit’s product literature describes as supplying on-demand quantum-safe keys for VPN tunnels and as following NIST-recommended post-quantum approaches, including integration with IPsec, IKE, and vendor firewall platforms. 

Those product details are published design claims for NetworkSecure. They are not confirmed components of the Es’hailSat demonstration. AIEE previously purchased a QuantumCloud and SKA-Platform licence from Arqit in August 2023, when the integrator was styled Advanced International Electronic Equipment Company WLL.

Why operators care. Satellite links are long-lived assets. Traffic remaining encrypted only under public-key algorithms a cryptographically relevant quantum computer could attack is exposed, in principle, to store-now-decrypt-later collection. The partners did not report a harvest-now-decrypt-later measurement on this link. They presented the work as a practical route for adding quantum-safe protection while satellites and teleports remain in service.

Regional Critical Infrastructure Applications

Es’hailSat is a Doha-based operator incorporated in 2010 and wholly owned by the Qatar Investment Authority. It provides broadcast, telecommunications, government, and teleport services across the MENA region. President and CEO Ali Ahmed Al-Kuwari said Es’hailSat’s satellite networks are “critical to Qatar’s national infrastructure, economic development and secure digital transformation across the Middle East and North Africa region.” The collaboration, he said, reflects a commitment to “exploring technologies that can strengthen long-term communications resilience while maintaining operational continuity for customers and stakeholders operating critical services.”

Arqit presented the result as evidence operators need not rebuild infrastructure to add quantum-safe cryptographic resilience. CEO Andy Leaver said satellite infrastructure supports “some of the world’s most operationally sensitive environments” and the project “proves a practical path to strengthening quantum-safe cryptographic resilience without requiring operators to rebuild existing infrastructure.” In those settings, he said, “disruption simply isn’t an option.” 

AIEE chief technology officer Adam St Paul said organizations “do not need to replace existing systems to achieve stronger security” and can introduce quantum-safe protection into operational environments while maintaining continuity.

The partners said the project validates a practical route for introducing quantum-safe protection into existing satellite environments supporting government, enterprise, maritime, energy, and critical infrastructure communications. Those sectors are the intended use cases described in the release, not named customers on the test. Follow-on work was framed around secure enterprise connectivity, sovereign communications resilience, and long-term protection of critical infrastructure. No contract value, production rollout schedule, or named end customers were disclosed.

Bottom Line

The trial shows a ground and network overlay can add quantum-safe protection on a live Es’hail-1 path without interrupting operations.

Find out more here.

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