Positioning, navigation, and timing
Delivering the most advanced PNT solutions with quantum advantage.
TIME Names Q-CTRL's Ironstone Opal One of the Best Inventions of 2025
Quantum-based navigation system ensures planes and ships stay on course during GPS attacks.
Address the number one strategic threat
GPS rules our daily lives, but it has recently come under threat. Over 1000 flights per day suffer deliberate jamming, putting flight safety at risk. Spoofing attacks are disrupting global shipping. And even a short GPS outage could be economically devastating, costing over $1B per day. In an era of growing international conflict, GPS denial is becoming a weapon of great economic and strategic importance.
We lead the world in delivering true resilience against GPS unavailability via a new generation of quantum-assured navigation solutions for air, sea, and land.
Precise GPS-free quantum navigation by geophysical map matching
Ironstone Opal delivers reliable GPS-free navigation for land, sea, and air, leveraging unjammable geophysical map matching and offering a quantum-assured solution in GPS-denied environments. It incorporates Q-CTRL’s proprietary software-ruggedized gravitational and magnetic sensors with world-leading denoising and positioning software to deliver you a full-stack navigational solution to support your most challenging missions.
Compatible with crewed aircraft, uncrewed airborne systems, and maritime deployments, Ironstone Opal delivers resilience for defense and commercial operations to improve efficiency, safety, and mission effectiveness.
Ironstone Opal
The only GPS-free navigation with a quantum advantage.](/content/our-work/positioning-navigation-and-timing#/index.html)
Delivering a new generation of quantum inertial navigation
Q-CTRL has partnered with Lockheed Martin to deliver a new generation of ultra-stable quantum inertial navigation systems compatible with the most challenging operating conditions.
The partnership focuses on how Q-CTRL’s AI-powered infrastructure software can help stabilize quantum devices against the performance-sapping platform noise arising from the moving vehicle itself.
Q-CTRL’s globally unique expertise in stabilizing quantum hardware against noise and interference is borne out in the technical literature, and is letting us leapfrog the global research community in its efforts to bring quantum inertial navigation to real defense platforms.
Real-world use cases
We achieved an accuracy in some trials comparable to a sharpshooter hitting a bullseye from 1,000 yards away. But because our quantum-assured navigation system allows a vehicle to position itself accurately irrespective of how far it’s travelled, by analogy that sharpshooter can hit the same bullseye no matter how far away they move from the target.
Michael J. Biercuk
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
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Q-CTRL
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Autonomous quantum sensors in space exploration will be invaluable in leveraging extraterrestrial resources for permanent human bases on the Moon and Mars.
Steven Marshall
Premier of South Australia
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Advanced Navigation
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Frequently asked questions
How does quantum navigation work?
Q-CTRL builds several complementary technologies based on trapped atoms. These atoms respond to external magnetic and gravitational fields as well as accelerations, and these tiny responses can be measured with laser beams. Because the response comes from the properties of the atoms, the hardware doesn't require any calibration and is very stable over long periods. With those measured signals, a navigation computer can either compare readings to a local map (map matching) or calculate position and velocity from measured accelerations (inertial navigation).
What are the benefits of quantum navigation?
The quantum navigation systems built by Q-CTRL cannot be jammed or spoofed by an adversary. They function in any weather or visibility conditions and are completely passive, ensuring stealthy operations. Overall quantum navigation provides a robust backup when GPS is untrusted or unavailable, and is a complement to other navigation solutions.
Can I test Q-CTRL technology on my platform?
Q-CTRL is currently engaging select partners for additional field trails and system-integration demonstrations. Please contact the Q-CTRL team for further details.
What validation of quantum technology’s relevance is there for defense applications?
Q-CTRL is the first and only company in the world to deliver field validation of quantum sensing technology for navigation. This includes real field trials on airborne, ground-based, and maritime platforms. Contact the Q-CTRL team for further details.
Does Q-CTRL sell hardware systems?
Q-CTRL produces infrastructure software for quantum computing and full-stack quantum-assured navigation systems including its own quantum sensing hardware. Q-CTRL does not sell sensor components, but the Ironstone Opal quantum-assured navigation system is now available for presale. Contact the Q-CTRL team for further details.
How is quantum computing relevant to defense?
Q-CTRL has demonstrated that quantum computing can deliver on defense use cases like contested Army logistics, and optimized manufacturing supply chains for defense technology. A wide variety of other applications in materials science, chemistry, and machine learning are being explored and can be enabled by Q-CTRL’s performance management infrastructure software, Fire Opal.
Why do I need quantum sensors?
Quantum sensors operate differently from conventional sensors, making them:
- More reliable
- Less vulnerable to signal jamming
- Less affected by electromagnetic interference
This gives quantum sensors an advantage over current sound and light based sensors, which are increasingly susceptible to interference issues.
How do I integrate these sensors into existing platforms?
Our team has extensive experience incorporating quantum sensors into new and existing platforms. Get in touch to discuss how this capability fits into your development plans.
What are the quantum sensing applications for positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT)?
Quantum sensors are used for precise detection of geophysical and vehicle signals needed to navigate without any connection to GPS. Current and future applications include aerospace, maritime and autonomous vehicles such as uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) and autonomous underwater vehicles. Q-CTRL’s activities incorporate quantum inertial sensing, magnetometry, and gravimetry.
What is quantum sensing?
Quantum sensing leverages quantum mechanics to achieve unprecedented precision and sensitivity in measuring physical quantities like magnetic fields or acceleration. Unlike classical sensing techniques, quantum sensing exploits the unique properties of atoms to provide enhanced performance in a wide variety of sensing applications.