Quantum safe in space: Securing the communications backbone our world depends on

In-space infrastructure is the invisible backbone of our society that provides the timing, navigation, communication and sensing capabilities that underpin nearly everything we do on Earth.

Today, there are more than 16,000 active satellites in orbit, supporting navigation, communications, weather forecasting, financial synchronization, national security systems and more. And this orbital footprint will continue to grow: The World Economic Forum and McKinsey estimate the global space economy will expand from approximately USD 630 billion in 2023 to USD 1.8 trillion by 2035.

Meanwhile, for all its extraordinary promise to accelerate scientific discovery and transform industries, quantum computing carries a profound potential risk. Decades ago, mathematicians proved that in the future, a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could use Shor’s algorithm to break the public key cryptography that protects today’s digital world. If attackers applied this capability to critical space systems, it wouldn’t just threaten satellites—it would threaten every Earth-based system that depends on their integrity.

Just a handful of compromised space systems could trigger widespread, systemic failures. They can potentially disrupt stock markets, cause payment systems to fail, fracture supply chains, expose sensitive data and intellectual property and cause governments to face immediate crises.

The risk is no longer theoretical. It is now a matter of US national policy. On 22 June 2026, the President’s office issued Executive Order 14412, “Securing the Nation Against Advanced Cryptographic Attacks,” which states:

“It is the policy of the United States to safeguard national security and maintain technological leadership by responsibly and effectively executing the transition of Federal information systems to National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)-approved Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) for Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), and to assist critical infrastructure owners and operators with their transitions.”

The mandate is clear: while Commercial National Security Algorithm Suite 2.0 (CNSA 2.0) set the deadline for PQC adoption to 2035, the Executive Order accelerates this timeline, requiring high-value assets and high-impact systems to convert to PQC as early as 2030–2031. For space systems, where lead times are long, hardware upgrades are difficult and satellites can operate for decades, the time to act is now.

In 2024, NIST released its first three post-quantum cryptography standards, including a standard for establishing encryption keys and two standards for digital signatures. Known technically as ML-KEM, ML-DSA and SLH-DSA, these algorithms are designed to help protect sensitive information against attacks from future quantum computers. IBM researchers co-developed ML-KEM and ML-DSA, two of these three foundational standards, alongside external collaborators.

These standards represent the culmination of a multi-year international effort and serve as blueprints that governments and industries worldwide can use to begin adopting PQC security strategies. NIST is also continuing to evaluate and standardize more post-quantum algorithms, helping broaden the options available to organizations as cryptographic requirements and threats evolve.

Publishing standards is one thing, but demonstrating that they work in the unforgiving environment of space is another. IBM collaborated with Voyager Technologies to take on this challenge directly—and succeeded.

Using IBM Quantum Safe™ Remediator technology deployed on Voyager’s Space Edge Micro Datacenter, IBM and Voyager successfully demonstrated a post-quantum-secured communication link between the International Space Station and Earth.

This demonstration proved that it is possible to scale PQC-secured data traffic between Earth and orbit, an essential step toward quantum-safe space infrastructure.

One of the greatest challenges facing PQC adoption is that many space devices have embedded encryption that can be difficult to upgrade. IBM Quantum Safe Remediator can be used to tackle this challenge with an elegant approach:

“IBM Quantum Safe Remediator acts as an intelligent proxy around a legacy application. To the outside world, that facade speaks post-quantum cryptography. Internally, it speaks classical encryption, granting the ability to upgrade existing cryptography from classical to post-quantum.”
— Ray Harishankar, IBM Fellow for Quantum Safe

This helps organizations protect legacy communications while they plan their broader move to post-quantum cryptography.

The demonstration on the ISS was a critical first step, but the broader challenge is not just one secured connection. As space activity expands, the security model must account for entire space ecosystems, including satellites, ground stations, lunar infrastructure, edge computing environments and data exchanges:

“We may be tempted to think it’s just one link we need to secure, but we should expand that mindset. As we move forward with lunar and deep space missions, we need an infrastructure with crypto-agility—the ability to replace cryptographic algorithms in an agile fashion.”
— JR Rao, IBM Fellow and CTO for Security Research

The space economy is booming, with data volumes skyrocketing from terabytes to petabytes per day. Every new satellite, every new mission, every new data stream represents both opportunity and vulnerability.

Although the US government has mandated adoption of a PQC posture by 2035, bad actors are already engaged in “harvest now, decrypt later” strategies. They manage to capture encrypted data today with the expectation of breaking it once quantum computers mature and become “cryptographically relevant.”

With the backing of NIST-published PQC standards, industries have started their journey toward fully securing not only space systems, but also systems used in financial markets, data centers, telecommunications networks and national infrastructure. Organizations need both a quantum-safe strategy and a space security strategy to protect their operations and data. As standards evolve and transition timelines become clearer, waiting will only make migration harder.

The demonstration with Voyager is timely and relevant. It shows that we can begin securing the space systems we depend on using post-quantum cryptography before quantum risk becomes an operational crisis.

Space is unique and presents novel challenges not seen in most terrestrial environments. Satellites and space-based systems can operate for years (and sometimes decades), often with limited ability to update hardware once deployed. That makes crypto-agility essential: organizations need the ability to update cryptographic protections, support new standards and secure long-lived systems without waiting for a full infrastructure refresh.

So where does that leave us? Building a secure future in space requires forward-looking technologies and current-day infrastructure working collaboratively. The government mandates are clear. The standards are confirmed. The technology is demonstrated. The time to act is now. Let’s build a secure future in space, together.

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IBM is actively working with partners across industries to implement quantum-safe security strategies. Contact IBM to learn how Quantum Safe Remediator and IBM’s broader quantum-safe portfolio can help your organization begin its transition to post-quantum cryptography.