sat-QFL: Secure Quantum Federated Learning for Low Orbit Satellites

Abstract

Low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations violate core assumptions of standard (quantum) federated learning (FL): client-server connectivity is intermittent, participation is time varying, and latency budgets are strict. We present sat-QFL, a hierarchical, access aware quantum federated learning (QFL) framework that partitions satellites into primary (ground connected) and secondary as inter-satellite links (ISL-only) roles, and schedules sequential, simultaneous, or asynchronous edge training aligned with visibility windows. For quantum-resilient confidentiality and integrity, sat-QFL integrates quantum key distribution (QKD) based key establishment with authenticated encryption for model exchange; we also assess teleportation as a feasibility primitive for quantum state transfer. Using derived constellation traces and QFL workloads (Qiskit), we show that sat-QFL sustains robust aggregation under varying participation and reduces communication bottlenecks with modest security overhead. Our implementation and results are available at https://github.com/s222416822/satQFL.