In recent years, our reliance on GPS has touched everything from smartphones and aircraft to stock markets and emergency services. But as useful as these satellites are, they come with a catch: GPS signals can be jammed or spoofed. In regions like the Middle East and Eastern Europe in 2024, over 1,000 flights a day were affected by spoofing, causing pilots to contend with misleading instrument readings.
Thankfully, quantum technology is emerging as a strong alternative. Quantum navigation systems, which bypass satellites entirely, are being developed by industry leaders such as Boeing, Infleqtion, and SandboxAQ in partnership with the Chicago Quantum Exchange. This collaborative effort aims to overcome GPS’s vulnerabilities with options that are both secure and reliable. Ken Devine from SandboxAQ notes that global tensions are fuelling a real need for such innovation, a need highlighted by promising flight tests done for the U.S. Air Force in 2023.
A significant breakthrough came in 2024 when Boeing completed a flight using multiple quantum navigation systems, maintaining accurate positioning without GPS for several hours. The trial integrated SandboxAQ’s magnetic field-based AQNav and AOSense’s inertial navigation system. Caitlin Carnahan of Infleqtion explains that these quantum approaches not only challenge traditional inertial systems but also offer improved precision and resilience.
Quantum navigation generally employs two techniques. One method relies on inertial navigation, utilising sensors that pick up movement changes at atomic scales—ideal for space where conventional maps are redundant. The other method, akin to terrain-following radar, uses magnetic field maps much like the natural navigation found in birds. While magnetic navigation depends on the availability and quality of terrain maps, evolving electronic warfare scenarios make its further development likely. In the UK and soon in the U.S., Infleqtion’s AI-powered tool SAPIENT is already combining data from multiple sensors to refine navigation accuracy even further.
For those in aviation and related fields, this shift towards quantum navigation offers a reassuring alternative to GPS-related challenges. If you’ve ever struggled with unreliable tech in critical moments, you’ll appreciate that these innovations come backed by rigorous testing and strong industry collaboration. The advances we’re seeing today suggest that a more secure and dependable future is on the horizon for navigation in flight.
