Wedoany.com Report on Feb 12th, Quantum technology company Infleqtion recently announced that it will participate as a partner in NASA's Quantum Gravity Gradiometer Pathfinder (QGGPf) mission. Led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), this mission plans to send the first quantum sensor capable of measuring Earth's gravity field and its gradients into space. It will be hosted on a dedicated low Earth orbit satellite platform to monitor global dynamic changes in surface mass. This partnership news follows Infleqtion's announcement of going public via a merger.
The core objective of the QGGPf mission is to validate the feasibility of quantum sensing technology in the space environment, thereby transforming traditional gravity measurement methods. The quantum sensor is designed to capture signals related to the global water cycle, ice sheet melting, and changes in terrestrial reservoirs. In the microgravity environment, it can achieve longer atomic coherence times, significantly enhancing measurement sensitivity. As a technology pathfinder, this mission will provide design validation and engineering experience for future scientific-grade quantum gravity instruments, marking a crucial step from concept to engineering validation for space quantum sensing.
To date, the QGGPf mission has secured over $20 million in cumulative contract funding. Participating institutions include NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, the University of Texas at Austin, Infleqtion, Monarch Quantum, and Jemba9. This project will achieve the first on-orbit deployment of an independently operated quantum gravity sensor.
Dana Anderson, Chief Science Officer at Infleqtion, stated: "Quantum sensing is opening up entirely new directions for space. By deploying this technology in orbit, we are not only validating the feasibility of quantum gravity measurements in space but also laying the groundwork for future, higher-precision Earth observation capabilities—capabilities that promise unprecedented insights into Earth's systems."
By directly measuring minute perturbations in Earth's gravity field, this mission aims to reduce the technical risks associated with future quantum gravimeters in terms of cost, size, power consumption, and environmental adaptability. Such systems are expected to provide high-resolution data support for long-term strategic issues like groundwater management, carbon sequestration monitoring, and polar ice sheet changes. The one-year on-orbit demonstration mission is scheduled for launch in 2030.
The technical foundation for the QGGPf mission stems from previous work by JPL and Infleqtion on the Cold Atom Lab (CAL) program aboard the International Space Station. It also continues NASA's nearly two-decade-long effort to map Earth's gravity field through the GRACE mission series. For this mission, Infleqtion is responsible for the design, maturation, and integration of the sensor's quantum core subsystem, encompassing the vacuum chamber, laser system, and atomic manipulation modules. Its core sensing unit is based on the interferometry principle using ultracold rubidium atoms, aiming to achieve high-precision gravity gradient measurements directly from space.
This mission is also seen as a significant milestone in the development of the U.S. quantum ecosystem, demonstrating the critical role of public-private partnerships in advancing cutting-edge technologies from the laboratory to mission capability. Beyond Earth science, space quantum sensing technology holds expansion potential in areas such as next-generation navigation and positioning, deep-space resource exploration, and national security. According to current plans, NASA and Infleqtion will complete the development and ground validation of the engineering-grade instrument hardware within the next three years, followed by the flight system delivery phase.
