SAN FRANCISCO – Canada’s SBQuantum has won an €800,000 ($932,000) European Space Agency contract to deliver a prototype quantum magnetometer for space-based Earth observation.
Under the 21-month contract, announced Nov. 14, SBQuantum will upgrade the quantum diamond magnetometer delivered to ESA for testing and evaluation in 2024. The new version of the sensor will be customized to meet ESA requirements for sensitivity and accuracy, according to the news release.
SBQuantum, founded in Quebec in 2017, also is a finalist in the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s MagQuest Challenge, a competition to improve measurement of Earth’s magnetic field.
Monitoring Earth’s Ecosystems
“The Earth and its ecosystem are evolving, and humankind needs to better monitor changes in ocean currents and temperatures, among many other transformations, so we can fully understand them, prepare and adapt,” David Roy-Guay, SBQuantum CEO and founder, said in a statement. “A byproduct of demonstrating space readiness is that this doubles as a strong validation of terrestrial readiness for our hardware.”
On satellites, quantum diamond magnetometers promise greater sensitivity than traditional space-based magnetometers.
“Our earlier research shows that diamond magnetometers may meet the performance needed for Earth observation,” Aaron Strangfeld, ESA quantum & emerging sensing technologies engineer, said in a statement. “Now we need to prove that building such an instrument is possible.”
SBQuantum has received funding from the Canadian Space Agency’s Space Technology Development program. Canada, ESA’s sole non-European cooperating state, provides funding through the Canada-ESA program.