Quantum Revolution in Space: Enhancing Space Technology

C. Granata

Bongs, Kai

Daniel K. L. Oi, Alexander Ling, James A. Grieve +3 more

Bringing quantum science and technology to the space frontier offers exciting prospects for both fundamental physics and applications such as long-range secure communication and space-borne quantum probes for inertial sensing with enhanced accuracy and sensitivity. But despite important terrestrial pathfinding precursors on common microgravity platforms and promising proposals to exploit the significant advantages of space quantum missions, large-scale quantum test beds in space are yet to be realised due to the high costs and lead times of traditional ‘Big Space’ satellite development. But the ‘small space’ revolution, spearheaded by the rise of nanosatellites such as CubeSats, is an opportunity to greatly accelerate the progress of quantum space missions by providing easy and affordable access to space and encouraging agile development. We review space quantum science and technology, CubeSats and their rapidly developing capabilities and how they can be used to advance quantum satellite systems.

Jonathan P. Dowling

Australian physicist Gerard Milburn and I coined the phrase “e Second Quantum Revolution” in an invited paper, entitled “Quantum Technology: e Second Quantum Revolution,” which was published in 2003 in The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, a journal founded in 1662 that claims to be “the world’s rst science journal.” (A number of Isaac Newton’s papers appeared in this journal in the 1600s and 1700s, and then came ours in 2003. So much for quality control.) is paper began its life as a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Technical Brief that I routed to various NASA program managers in the early 2000s as a tutorial on quantum technologies. I had stolen the term “Quantum Technology” from a book Milburn published in Australia in 1996 by that same name.1 In the fall of 2002, I mentioned to Milburn at a workshop that I was working on this paper and he informed me that he had been asked to write a review article for The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, on exactly that topic, and so we joined forces, and this publication was the result. It is likely the rst (and probably the last) time a NASA Technical Brief made it into The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. at paper has been cited only a paltry 47 times but I often see it quoted in talks and public lectures, particularly the rst sentence of the abstract: “We are currently in the midst of a second quantum revolution. e rst quantum revolution gave us new rules that govern physical reality. e second quantum revolution will take these rules and use them to develop new technologies.” Without reproducing this entire paper, which is easy enough for you to read yourself, let me blunder on a bit about what ideas we were trying to get across.2

Kai Bongs

Alessio Belenchia, Matteo Carlesso, Ömer Bayraktar +17 more

Advances in quantum technologies are giving rise to a revolution in the way fundamental physics questions are explored at the empirical level. At the same time, they are the seeds for future disruptive technological applications of quantum physics. Remarkably, a space-based environment may open many new avenues for exploring and employing quantum physics and technologies. Recently, space missions employing quantum technologies for fundamental or applied studies have been proposed and implemented with stunning results. The combination of quantum physics and its space application is the focus of this review: we cover both the fundamental scientific questions that can be tackled with quantum technologies in space and the possible implementation of these technologies for a variety of academic and commercial purposes.