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In this paper, we report on the demonstration of a high-rate free-space optical communication downlink from a fast airborne platform to a ground station. The flight platform used was a Panavia Tornado with a laser communication terminal installed in an attached avionic demonstrator pod. A transportable optical ground station equipped with a free-space receiver frontend was used as the receiver station. Downlink wavelength for communication and uplink wavelength for beacon laser were chosen to be compatible with the C-band DWDM grid. New opto-mechanical tracking systems were developed and applied on both sides for link acquisition and stabilization. The flight tests were carried out at the end of November 2013 near the Airbus Defence & Space location in Manching, Germany. The campaign successfully demonstrated the maturity and readiness of laser communication for aircraft downlinks at a data rate of 1.25 Gbit/s. We outline the experiment design based on link budget assessments, the developed opto-mechanical terminal technology, and the results of the flight campaign. The experiment itself focused on the tracking performance of the airborne terminal and the ground station. Performance could be measured at aircraft speeds up to Mach 0.7 and video data from an onboard camera was transmitted. Tracking accuracies of up to 20 µrad rms for the airborne terminal and the ground station were achieved at instantaneous tracking errors below 60 µrad and 40 µrad, respectively. The tracking link worked up to a horizontal distance of 79 km and data transmission was possible up to 50 km.

Quantum key distribution (QKD) is one of the most mature quantum technologies and can provide quantum-safe security in future communication networks. Since QKD in fiber is limited to a range of few hundred kilometers, one approach to bridge continental scale distances may be the use of high altitude pseudo satellites (HAPS) as mobile trusted nodes in the stratosphere. In parallel, free-space laser communication for high rate data transmission has been a subject of research and development for several decades and its commercialization is progressing rapidly. Important synergies exist between classical free-space communication and QKD systems since the quantum states are often implemented using the same degrees of freedom such as polarization or field amplitude and phase. These synergies can be used to benefit from the progress in classical free-space laser communication in QKD applications. In this paper, the use case of QKD in a stratospheric environment is described wherein HAPS may serve as relay station of secret keys and encrypted data. The mission scenario and HAPS capabilities are analyzed to derive special requirements on the stratospheric laser terminal, the link geometry and the ground segment with respect to a feasibility demonstration.To obtain a flexible and compatible system, discrete variable and continuous variable QKD protocols are considered to be implemented side by side in the HAPS payload. Depending on the system parameters, it can be beneficial to use the one or the other kind of protocol. Thus, a direct comparison of both in one and the same system is of scientific interest. Each of the protocols has particular requirements on coupling efficiency and implementation. Link budget calculations are performed to analyze possible distances, key rates and data transmission rates for the different schemes. In case of the QKD system, the mean coupling efficiency is of main interest, i.e. signal fluctuations arising from atmospheric turbulence must be taken into account in the security proof, but the buffered key generation relaxes real-time requirements. This is different to classical communications, where the corresponding fading loss must be assessed. A system architecture is presented that comprises the optical aircraft terminal, the optical ground terminal and the most important subsystems that enable implementation of the considered QKD protocols. The aircraft terminal is interfaced with the dedicated quantum transmitter module (Alice) and the ground station with the dedicated quantum receiver module (Bob). The optical interfaces are SMF couplings which put high requirements on the receiving optics, in particular the need for wave-front correction with adaptive optics. The findings of the system study are reviewed and necessary next steps pointed out.

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Some current and future airborne payloads like high resolution cameras and radar systems need high channel capacity to transmit their data from air to ground in near real-time. Especially in reconnaissance and surveillance missions, it is important to downlink huge amount of data in very short contact times to a ground station during a flyby. Aeronautical laser communications can supply the necessary high data-rates for this purpose. Within the project DODfast (Demonstration of Optical Data link fast) a laser link from a fast flying platform was demonstrated. The flight platform was a Panavia Tornado with the laser communication terminal installed in an attached avionic demonstrator pod. The air interface was a small glass dome protecting the beam steering assembly. All other elements were integrated in a small box inside the Pod's fuselage. The receiver station was DLR's Transportable Optical Ground Station equipped with a free-space receiver front-end. Downlink wavelength for communication and uplink wavelength for beacon laser were chosen from the optical C-band DWDM grid. The test flights were carried out at the end of November 2013 near the Airbus Defence and Space location in Manching, Germany. The campaign successfully demonstrated the maturity and readiness of laser communication with a data-rate of 1.25 Gbit/s for aircraft downlinks. Pointing, acquisition and tracking performance of the airborne terminal and the ground station could be measured at aircraft speed up to 0.7 Mach and video data from an onboard camera has been transmitted. Link distances with stable tracking were up to 79 km and distance with data transmission over 50 km. In this paper, we describe the system architecture, the flight campaign and the results.