Delivery of first Laser Projection System to European Southern Observatory Technology developer and producer Demcon shipped the first Laser Projection System together with TNO last week. Its destination is the European Southern Observatory (ESO), where TNO and ESO will test the system. In total, Demcon company Focal and TNO will build nine systems for ESO’s Very Large Telescope and Extremely Large Telescope in Chile. The systems project ‘laser guide stars’ into the atmosphere to help the large telescopes better focus on distant astronomical objects. This gives astronomers sharper images of the universe. They hope to make new discoveries, for example about the evolution of the universe after the Big Bang and the formation of stars and galaxies.

Secure communication and data protection are essential for digital security and industrial competitiveness in today’s information-technology based world. Quantum-key distribution (QKD) is cryptographic method that provides security by providing a encryption key only known to shared parties. This is possible through the concept of ‘entanglement’: a pair of entangled photons are generated by a device and sent to the encryption partners. If an eavesdropper intercepts the entangled photons intended for one party, this is detectable by the other party.