{"id":201900,"date":"2025-11-26T21:55:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T21:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/201900\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T21:55:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T21:55:15","slug":"quantum-sensors-in-space-ieee-spectrum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/201900\/","title":{"rendered":"Quantum Sensors in Space – IEEE Spectrum"},"content":{"rendered":"

An emerging generation of quantum sensors<\/a> are capable of performing tasks such as detecting the magnetic fields<\/a> of thoughts with unprecedented levels of sensitivity<\/a>. Now, the European Space Agency<\/a> (ESA<\/a>) aims to send a quantum sensor<\/a> into space. The goal is to detect changes in Earth\u2019s magnetic field to improve navigation and monitor climate change<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Quantum sensors<\/a> rely on the sensitivity of quantum energy levels to outside influences. Quantum sensors look for such disturbances to detect minuscule changes in, say, magnetic and electric fields<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A popular type of quantum sensor depends on microscopic artificial diamonds<\/a>. Each has a defect within them, in which two carbon atoms are replaced with a single nitrogen atom, leaving a so-called vacancy. When these nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers<\/a> are illuminated with green light, they fluoresce red. Magnetic disturbances alter this response, allowing NV centers to serve as magnetometers\u2014magnetic sensors.<\/p>\n

Quantum sensor company SBQuantum<\/a> in Sherbrooke, Canada<\/a>, has developed quantum diamond magnetometers about the size of a carton of milk. This makes it small enough to fit inside a CubeSat<\/a>\u2014a satellite based on cubes just 10 centimeters wide.<\/p>\n

With a new 21-month contract from ESA worth nearly $1 million USD (\u20ac800,000), SBQuantum will deliver a new prototype. It will be the same size and weight as the previous sensors, but with a roughly tenfold upgrade in sensitivity, accuracy and bandwidth, as required by ESA for advanced Earth observation<\/a> missions. All in all, the prototype is designed to achieve a sensitivity of less than 100 picotesla, about one million times less than Earth\u2019s magnetic field. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have the chance to completely rethink the architecture of our magnetometers\u2014to minimize the noise from some of our readout circuits, to improve the laser system, to better collect the red light emitted from the diamond, and more,\u201d says David Roy-Guay, co-founder and CEO of SBQuantum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Potential applications for the space-borne quantum magnetometer<\/a> include monitoring Earth\u2019s magnetic field to detect changes that might impact air and sea navigation. \u201cEvery time you look at a map on a smartphone, the reading you get depends on the World Magnetic Model<\/a>,\u201d Roy-Guay says. \u201cAs part of the MagQuest<\/a> challenge, we are trying to help monitor the Earth\u2019s magnetic field. In the longer term with ESA, we want to not only help with navigation, but also monitoring space weather<\/a>, such as solar storms<\/a> that can disrupt satellite and ground communications.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the MagQuest challenge, SBQuantum is already building sensors that are compact enough to fit into a CubeSat<\/a> roughly the size of eight single units. These are also ruggedized to withstand shaking during a SpaceX<\/a> launch, operations between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius, and radiation<\/a> levels expected during two to three years in orbit.<\/p>\n

The new prototype is also designed to monitor the magnetic disturbances caused by the flowing seawater in ocean currents. \u201cWe can see how, say, the Gulf Stream is evolving through global warming<\/a>, which can in turn affect climate and weather patterns worldwide,\u201d Roy-Guay says.<\/p>\n

In addition, the new sensor may have military applications\u2014for instance, to magnetically detect submarines<\/a> in the water, or metallic weapons<\/a> and other items on the other side of a wall, Roy-Guay says.<\/p>\n

From Your Site Articles<\/p>\n

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