Sparkle, the first international service provider in Italy and among the top global operators, and Hellas Sat, a leading satellite operator, with three geostationary satellites and two teleport facilities in Greece and Cyprus, announce the successful implementation of the first quantum-safe satellite connection between Greece and Cyprus.

After validating a quantum-safe IPsec connection between two data centers in Greece, Sparkle and Hellas Sat have now extended quantum-safe protection to a live satellite link connecting Sparkle’s data center in Metamorfosis (Athens) with Hellas Sat’s infrastructure in Cyprus. This marks the first deployment of quantum-safe protection over a satellite connection between the two countries. The end-to-end satellite path spans approximately 72.000 kilometers, including the uplink from Cyprus to the geostationary satellite and the downlink to Greece.

Sparkle’s Quantum Safe Interconnect (QSI) protects sensitive data against “store now, decrypt later” and future quantum-enabled threats through quantum-safe key delivery and automated key rotation. As a software-based solution, QSI integrates seamlessly with existing network and security infrastructures, supporting scalable deployment across multi-site environments and enabling the gradual evolution of secure connectivity over time.

Antonella Sanguineti, Head of Networking, Cloud, Security & Identity Solutions at Sparkle said: “The extension of QSI to satellite connectivity with Hellas Sat represents a concrete step in the evolution of our quantum-safe portfolio. It demonstrates that QSI can be deployed consistently across different network layers, connectivity domains, and operational environments, opening new opportunities to protect communications for customers requiring secure, resilient connectivity across geographically distributed environments.”

Constantinos Kassianides, Director, Ground Operations at Hellas Sat added: “This successful implementation marks another important milestone in our collaboration with Sparkle. By combining our satellite infrastructure with Sparkle’s QSI solution, we can now evaluate the commercial deployment of quantum-safe satellite services for enterprise customers operating across distributed, remote, and mission-critical locations.”

This achievement further confirms Sparkle’s expertise in the development of next-generation security solutions, building on its previous quantum-safe cross-border activities in several countries as well as on the successful validation of a quantum-safe IPsec connection between Sparkle and Hellas Sat’s data centers earlier this year.