Navigating without GPS using quantum sensors

How far away is navigation without GPS that uses quantum sensors?

Quantum sensors have been tested on aircraft, aboard a ship and on an uncrewed submarine in trials reported since 2024. The trials suggest that the sensors can run in real conditions. They do not yet show routine, independently checked positioning accuracy across the operating envelope of a military or civil aircraft. The main gaps are map coverage, independent accuracy data, rugged compact hardware and formal approval for use.

AI illustration · Illustrative scene, not a photograph of the specific device or experiment.
WHERE WE AREEngineering prototypes

Getting closer. Prototypes exist, but not in real-world use.

Quantum sensing components have been tested in several trials: a UK aircraft flight test in May 2024, Australian magnetic navigation flights in 2025, a 144-hour ship trial reported in 2025 and a quantum clock on an uncrewed submarine reported in October 2025. These are prototype systems tested in real vehicles. None has been shown to be in routine use for navigation, and the trial results reviewed are mostly company or government statements without independent measurement. The stage is therefore engineering prototype, not pilot.

The tech tree

Everything recorded on Vrulum that this future needs, oldest foundations at the top and the goal at the bottom. Lines show what each step requires.

What it takes: Navigating without GPS using quantum sensors Unlocked Being researched Locked
  1. 2001Quantum gravimetryResearch and prototypes Being researched.
  2. 2014Quantum sensorsPilot and early commercial Unlocked.
  1. 2024Quantum clock and quantum inertial sensor elements flown on an aircraftDone Unlocked.
  2. 2025Magnetic navigation flown on long aircraft routesDone Unlocked.
  3. 2025Quantum sensor run at sea aboard a naval training vesselDone Unlocked.
  4. 2025Quantum optical clock operated on an uncrewed submarineDone Unlocked.
  5. 2026Environmental qualification of a quantum magnetic navigation unitDone Unlocked.
  6. Date not recordedIndependent benchmarking of clock and navigation performanceIn progress Being researched.
  7. Date not recordedOperational approval for use in civil or military navigationNot started Locked.
  8. Date not recordedRoutine use across a full operating envelopeNot started Locked.
  1. GoalNavigating without GPS using quantum sensorsGoalRequires: Quantum sensors, Quantum gravimetry, Quantum clock and quantum inertial sensor elements flown on an aircraft, Magnetic navigation flown on long aircraft routes, Quantum sensor run at sea aboard a naval training vessel, Quantum optical clock operated on an uncrewed submarine, Independent benchmarking of clock and navigation performance, Environmental qualification of a quantum magnetic navigation unit, Operational approval for use in civil or military navigation, Routine use across a full operating envelope. Locked.

The road so far

5 of 8 steps done, 1 in progress.

  1. Done · 9 May 2024Quantum clock and quantum inertial sensor elements flown on an aircraft

    The UK Government announced on 13 May 2024 that a series of test flights had been run. The final flight was on 9 May 2024 at MoD Boscombe Down, aboard QinetiQ's RJ100 Airborne Technology Demonstrator, with Science Minister Andrew Griffith on board. Infleqtion (lead), BAE Systems and QinetiQ were partners. The compact Tiqker optical atomic clock and core elements of a quantum inertial sensor were flown. The release gives no accuracy figures. [1]

  2. Done · Feb 2025Magnetic navigation flown on long aircraft routes

    Q-CTRL reported airborne magnetic navigation trials in February 2025, run over more than a week, with more than 6,700 km flown in a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan at altitudes up to 19,000 feet. The paper reports a best final positioning accuracy of 22 m, or 0.006% of the flight distance, and up to 46 times lower positioning error than a velocity-aided strategic-grade inertial system. The trial used publicly available magnetic anomaly maps, and GNSS was used only as ground truth. The paper is an arXiv preprint and the figures are the authors' own. [2]

  3. Done · Jul 2025Quantum sensor run at sea aboard a naval training vessel

    Q-CTRL reported a trial of over 144 hours of continuous operation aboard MV Sycamore, a Royal Australian Navy multi-role aviation training vessel. The sensor was installed in a single server rack in a communications room and ran while the ship was underway. The company describes the system as working at near world-record levels. The reported figures cover power use (180 W) and operation, not positioning accuracy or error rates. The Quantum Insider reports a Q-CTRL company announcement. [3]

  4. Done · Oct 2025Quantum optical clock operated on an uncrewed submarine

    Infleqtion, the Royal Navy and MSubs reported that the Tiqker optical atomic clock was fitted to the Royal Navy's Excalibur uncrewed testbed submarine and operated reliably during multiple dives. The release gives no trial dates, dive count or measured results. It describes the trial as a first critical step. [4]

  5. In progressIndependent benchmarking of clock and navigation performance

    Infleqtion says that additional performance benchmarking against high-grade time standards will follow. It has not reported those results. No independent measurements of navigation error against known positions, under the same conditions, are reported in the sources reviewed for the sea or submarine trials. [4]

  6. Done · 14 Jul 2026Environmental qualification of a quantum magnetic navigation unit

    On 14 July 2026, Q-CTRL announced that its Ironstone Opal system had passed environmental qualification testing to DO-160. The news report notes that DO-160 is an environmental test standard and that the announcement does not state the DO-160 version, test categories or testing organisation. It does not mean product certification or operational approval. [5]

  7. Not startedOperational approval for use in civil or military navigation

    No quantum navigation system reviewed has been approved by an aviation or maritime authority for use as a navigation source. The UK aims to deploy quantum navigation systems on aircraft by 2030, but the release does not describe the certification route. [1][5]

  8. Not startedRoutine use across a full operating envelope

    The Q-CTRL paper says that commercial airline cruise altitudes, highly dynamic military manoeuvres and over-water operation still need validation. Map coverage is also limited. No system has yet been shown in routine service over a full range of routes and conditions. [2]

Why it matters

GPS and other satellite signals can be jammed, spoofed or blocked. Aircraft, ships and submarines need a backup that does not depend on them. Quantum inertial and magnetic sensors offer one possible backup, but a backup is only useful if it works when needed, is accurate enough for the task and can be trusted by the people who depend on it.

What stands in the way

  • Public magnetic maps have limited resolution. The Q-CTRL paper says the public global maps have a resolution of about 3 km.
  • The Q-CTRL paper notes that position fixes can become less precise where magnetic variation is small, and that over-water magnetic anomalies are often smaller than over land. Over-water operation is listed as needing validation.
  • Accuracy figures so far come from the companies and their preprints. None of the sources reviewed reports independent, blinded tests against known positions, with error reported under stated conditions.
  • Quantum sensors are sensitive to vibration, temperature, tilt and magnetic noise. The Q-CTRL paper reports that the internally mounted magnetometer was about 13 times noisier than the outboard one, so sensor placement matters.
  • Environmental qualification under DO-160 is not product certification. None of the quantum navigation systems reviewed has been approved by an aviation or maritime authority for use as a navigation source.
  • The clock trial on the uncrewed submarine has no published measured performance, and the company's benchmarking against high-grade time standards has not yet been reported.

Published forecasts

What others have predicted. These are their estimates, not ours.

WhoForecastTimeframeMade
UK Government (National Quantum Strategy, Mission 4)By 2030, Mission 4 of the National Quantum Strategy aims to deploy quantum navigation systems on aircraft. The forecast is a government aim, and the 2024 release does not describe how it would be met. [1]203013 May 2024

Signals to watch

  • Independent flight or sea test results that report positioning error against a surveyed or independently measured truth, with conditions stated.
  • Peer-reviewed publication of the Q-CTRL magnetic navigation results, or a replication by another group.
  • Benchmarking results for the Tiqker clock against high-grade time standards, as Infleqtion has said will follow.
  • A civil aviation or maritime authority accepting a quantum navigation unit as a navigation source, rather than only as an environmentally qualified unit.
  • Compact, battery-powered quantum inertial or magnetic units tested on crewed vehicles over commercial routes.

Sources

  1. government report
    Un-jammable quantum tech takes flight to boost UK's resilience against hostile actors
    UK Government (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and UK Research and Innovation), 13 May 2024.
  2. preprint
    Quantum-assured magnetic navigation achieves positioning accuracy better than a strategic-grade INS in airborne and ground-based field trials
    Murat Muradoglu et al. (19 authors). arXiv (quant-ph), Q-CTRL authors, 10 Apr 2025.
  3. news
    Q-CTRL's New Maritime Quantum Navigation Solution Successfully Undergoes First Defense Trials at Sea
    Greg Bock. The Quantum Insider, 16 Jul 2025.
  4. company announcement
    Infleqtion and Royal Navy Demonstrate World's First Quantum Optical Clock on Underwater Autonomous Submarine to Advance GPS-Free Navigation
    Infleqtion (Business Wire press release), 28 Oct 2025.
  5. news
    World's First Quantum Navigation System Passes DO-160 Environmental Testing, Marking Major Step Toward GPS-Free Positioning
    Y Kobayashi. Xenospectrum, 15 Jul 2026.

Last reviewed 21 Oct 2026.