Amphinicy Technologies, a world’s leading software provider for companies operating in the satellite industry, today announced SpeQtral has selected its Blink software modem to manage radio frequency (RF) communications with its SpeQtre quantum communications satellite.
SpeQtral, a pioneer in quantum communication technologies, took operational control of SpeQtre in July 2026 and is now focused on the mission's quantum experimentation phase. Blink runs within the AWS Ground Station network and provides telemetry and telecommand (TM/TC) and wideband data downlink over the satellite's RF link.
Launched in November 2025, the SpeQtre satellite is designed to generate and transmit entanglement-based encryption keys worldwide. Following contact with optical ground stations (OGS) in Asia and Europe, SpeQtral is now calibrating the optical links to the higher precision that operational quantum communications require.
Advances in quantum computing threaten conventional encryption methods, creating new cybersecurity risks for sovereign and enterprise telecommunications networks. SpeQtral develops satellite-based quantum key distribution (QKD) to secure communications over long distances helping advance a global quantum-secure communications network for governments, businesses and operators of critical infrastructure.
For the SpeQtre mission, Amphinicy’s Blink software modem is used within the AWS ground station network for flexible, efficient and convenient RF communication with the satellite. Blink has been supporting the SpeQtre mission from its assembly, integration, testing and verification phases (AIT/AIV) in 2024 to operations today.
Both AIT/AIV tests and operations use Blink deployed as virtual modem within the AWS cloud infrastructure. This is a novel method of modem use, particularly for AIT/AIV purposes.
In addition to simple and fast modem deployment, Amphinicy delivered an automated, on-demand, TM/TC and payload downlink communication stack on AWS, orchestrating all required resources and distributing uplink and downlink digIF between AWS antennas and Blink modem for each scheduled contact.
Dr. Robert Bedington, Cofounder and CTO at SpeQtral, said: “Amphinicy’s Blink software modem has given the SpeQtre mission the flexibility to move with relative ease from integration and testing into on-orbit operations. Its cloud-based deployment through AWS Ground Station provides a scalable and efficient foundation for reliable satellite communications, allowing our team to focus on the mission’s core objective: advancing space-based quantum communications towards real-world deployment.”
Blink is a wideband software modem developed by Amphinicy Technologies, helping satellite operators and ground station service providers optimise operations, improve efficiency, and reduce costs and time-to-market. Blink supports multi-channel comms in one solution, (de)modulating the signal, (de)coding the data, communicating with the mission control system and generating advanced downlink processing reports.
In addition to AWS infrastructure, Blink can be deployed on other public or private clouds or run efficiently on standalone and isolated servers, seamlessly integrating within existing ground stations. It is the only software modem capable of fully supporting S, X- and Ka-band communication with CCSDS and DVB-S2(X) protocols.
TM/TC and high data rate (HDR) modems have traditionally been separate, purpose-built hardware units. With Blink, both are delivered in one flexible software modem on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) infrastructure.
Irena Kos, Head of Product Development for Blink at Amphinicy Technologies, said: “We are very proud and happy to support the amazing SpeQtral team in its important mission to push industry boundaries and advance new quantum technologies. Our mutual understanding of the pragmatic and flexible engineering approach needed to facilitate such rapid development has made our collaboration both successful and efficient, to the benefit of the mission.
“The solution we’ve delivered for the SpeQtre mission demonstrates the key advantages of a virtual, software modem deployed on cloud infrastructure. Rather than buying and shipping hardware modems between test and operational sites with the associated risks and costs, a virtual software modem can be deployed whenever and wherever it is needed, using the cloud provider’s data centre or applicable COTS computing resources. This flexibility offers significant benefits for NewSpace companies, agile satellite operators and technology demonstrators.”