Volume 10 , Issue 1 , PP: 42–51, 2026 | Cite this article as | XML | Html | PDF | Full Length Article
Khaled Sh. Gaber 1 * , S. K. Towfek 2
Doi: https://doi.org/10.54216/IJWAC.100104
The application of quantum key distribution, satellite communication and programmable wireless access in future secure wireless networks is anticipated to enhance secure communication infrastructure. But their realisation demands more than just the physical realisation of quantum links. The network controller needs to determine when a quantum-secured wireless link can be used to serve a request, how orbit type and weather conditions impact the volume of usable keys, and whether the secure key rate is high enough to admit a route. In this paper, we introduce Q-SARA, a quantum-secure access and routing admission model for satellite-assisted quantum wireless networks. It assesses candidate QKD access links with secure key rate (SKR), quantum bit error rate (QBER), link loss, contact duration, visibility probability and propagation delay. A smaller, pre-processed dataset is derived from the public Satellite-to-Ground QKD SKR dataset, which contains the calculated key performance indicators for Low Earth Orbit, Medium Earth Orbit and Geostationary satellite-to-ground QKD links using the prepare-and-measure and entanglement-based protocols. The empirical analysis examines 7,200 link-level data and assesses Q-SARA across orbit, protocol, optical ground station, elevation, atmospheric, and service classes. The findings demonstrate that link selection based only on key volume can be misleading when assessing service quality, while the multi-criteria score provides better balance between security, visibility and latency. LEO links have better instantaneous key rates, GEO links have better visibility, and MEO links lie in between and can be exploited when link quality and service are taken into account together. The results suggest that quantum wireless access should be considered as a service admission problem rather than a physical-layer key generation problem.
Quantum wireless networks , Quantum key distribution , Satellite QKD , Secure key rate , QBER , 6G security , link selection , Wireless access
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