Sherbrooke, Que.-based deeptech startup SBQuantum has inked new contracts with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) to test the company’s quantum sensing technology off the Earth’s surface.
Both contracts are being carried out over the summer. A spokesperson for SBQuantum told BetaKit the company is receiving financial remuneration as part of both agreements, but declined to disclose the contracts’ value.
“Years of investment, research and development are now beginning to pay off.”
David Roy-Guay
Quantum sensing uses quantum properties, such as superposition, entanglement, and quantum coherence, to make extremely sensitive measurements of physical quantities.
These measurements can be of time, magnetic fields, temperature, gravity, among other phenomena.
SBQuantum specializes in creating sensors that use a specific type of diamonds, known as nitrogen vacancy diamonds, to measure magnetic fields with a high degree of accuracy. The company uses the quantum properties of these diamonds to develop a quantum magnetometer that can perform magnetic field analysis without requiring precise positioning.
The CSA has selected SBQuantum to test its magnetometer at an altitude of 40 km as part of its stratospheric balloon program, called Stratos. This test will demonstrate the sensor’s ability to gather precise data in extremely cold conditions, as low as -60°C, in a low-pressure environment, and under radiation exposure.
SBQuantum says its tech can be a good alternative to the heavy infrastructure required by traditional GPS systems.
The ESA has also contracted SBQuantum to explore the potential of its quantum diamond magnetometer technology for use in space. The contract is focused on improving the agency’s understanding of Earth’s magnetic environment. ESA is evaluating both the reliability and precision of SBQuantum’s sensors, as well as how they could be deployed on satellites.
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“These contracts are further evidence of the tremendous potential of the quantum diamond magnetometers we are commercializing at SBQuantum,” David Roy-Guay, CEO and co-founder of SBQuantum, said in a statement.
“Years of investment, research and development are now beginning to pay off, as leading organizations in space exploration are acknowledging that our hardware has the potential to provide an important advantage over existing technologies,” he added.
SBQuantum spun out of the Université de Sherbrooke in 2017. This is not the first involvement the startup has had with a national space agency—the startup said in a statement that its quantum magnetometer was tested at National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center as part of NASA Tournament Lab.
SBQuantum was also a finalist in the MagQuest Challenge, a competition organized by the United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in partnership with the NASA Tournament Lab. The results of the competition will determine if SBQuantum’s device can be used for mapping and monitoring the earth’s magnetic field moving forward.
In a statement, SBQuantum said these tests may also open doors for other space-based applications of its technology, such as guiding rovers on the surfaces of other planets.
Feature image courtesy of Unsplash. Photo by Vincent Guth.
