The U.S. spaceplane X-37B is preparing for a “quantum navigation” test

The mysterious U.S. Air Drive spaceplane X-37B is about to launch for the eighth time on August 21, 2025. On every flight, the X-37B hosts totally different experiments, however this time, it would take a look at a doubtlessly historic expertise: a quantum inertial sensor.

Different Expertise to GPS

Immediately, GPS has grow to be an indispensable a part of our lives, utilized in numerous areas from cell telephones to airplanes, ships, and the logistics sector. Nevertheless, GPS doesn’t work in all places. Alerts can’t be acquired in deep area, it’s unusable in submarines, and could be simply jammed or spoofed throughout instances of conflict or disaster.

For this reason a navigation system that may function independently and doesn’t require alerts is critically necessary. The quantum sensor to be examined on the X-37B might create a revolution on this subject.

Discovering Path with Quantum Physics

Classical inertial navigation techniques (INS) estimate a automobile’s motion by measuring accelerations and rotations. Nevertheless, over time, small errors accumulate, degrading place info, which then must be corrected with exterior alerts like GPS.

That is the place quantum expertise is available in. The sensor carried by the X-37B cools atoms to a temperature near absolute zero, inflicting them to behave like waves. Lasers are used to make the atoms observe two totally different paths, after which these paths are recombined. Even the slightest modifications in motion depart a hint within the ensuing interference sample. This makes it potential to have a navigation system that’s orders of magnitude extra delicate and signal-independent than classical techniques.

First Time in a Actual Mission

NASA’s Chilly Atom Laboratory and Germany’s MAIUS-1 missions have beforehand despatched atom interferometers into area, however these have been restricted to scientific experiments. The X-37B, nevertheless, would be the first to check this expertise as a long-term, sensible navigation answer.

If profitable, a brand new period might start for army operations the place GPS is unavailable, in addition to for Moon, Mars, and deep area missions.

The World Race Has Accelerated

Many nations, together with the U.S., China, and the U.Ok., are investing billions of {dollars} in quantum navigation. In 2024, Boeing and AOSense efficiently examined quantum inertial sensors for the primary time on a passenger aircraft, finishing a four-hour GPS-free flight. In the identical yr, the U.Ok. additionally publicly introduced its personal take a look at on a industrial plane.

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