On April 16, 2018, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) said in its 2018–19 Departmental Plan that it would continue implementing the Quantum Encryption and Science Satellite (QEYSSat) demonstration mission. The plan says QEYSSat is intended to demonstrate quantum key distribution in space and provide Canada with more secure communications in the age of quantum computing.
The 2018–19 Departmental Plan states that a request for proposals would be issued to define the mission’s detailed requirements and that the microsatellite mission was scheduled for launch in 2022–23. This was an early formal planning step for a federal quantum communications satellite project.