Goodbye GPS - Hello Quantum Navigation?

[imitator]

The future of navigation is here...

The next X-37B spaceplane mission will include a quantum inertial navigation system... a test of GPS-free navigation using quantum mechanics.

Air & Space Forces Magazine  X-37 Heading Back to Space to Test Laser Comms, GPS Alternative
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/x-37-e...ternative/

Quantum navigation systems promise pinpoint accuracy without relying on satellites, making them ideal for everything from submarines to spacecraft.

In short... It means navigation that works without relying on GPS or any external signal... 
 
The core technology is atom interferometry. Atoms are cooled to near absolute zero so they act like waves, then lasers place each atom in a superposition so it travels along two paths at once.

Think of Schrodinger’s cat... the thought experiment where a cat in a sealed box is considered both alive and dead at the same time until you open the box. In quantum physics, particles can exist in multiple states simultaneously.

In this case, each atom is in two different motion states at once... like taking two paths at the same time... until the sensor measures it and the paths interfere.  When those atomic waves are recombined, they interfere, producing a pattern that reveals how the sensor has moved... even very slight accelerations or rotations leave a mark. That makes it possible to calculate position and motion without any external signals at all.
 
If the X-37B flight successfully demonstrates this system in space, it could mark the first real-world use of quantum navigation... and a major step toward signal-independent navigation for aerospace, civilian and defense.


 
You can take a deep dive with these refs:
The Conversation  Quantum Alternative to GPS Navigation Will Be Tested on US Military Spaceplane
https://theconversation.com/quantum-alte...ane-262967
(open-access article)
Phys. Rev. Applied (2024)  Closed-loop dual-atom-interferometer inertial sensor
https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRev....21.034050
(open-access preprint: https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.15863)
Nature Communications (2023) Enhancing sensitivity of atom-interferometric inertial sensors
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-43374-0
AIP (2025)  Developments for quantum inertial navigation systems
https://pubs.aip.org/aip/apr/article/12/...06/3351228
MITRE (2024)  Quantum vs. Classical Complementary PNT
https://www.mitre.org/sites/default/file...ry-PNT.pdf
arXiv (2016)  Dual Matter-Wave Inertial Sensors in Weightlessness
https://arxiv.org/abs/1609.03598

I’m all for cutting-edge tech... interesting stuff.
But I still like to carry a magnetic compass...  just in case the SHTF 

[BeyondKnowledge]

While this is quite interesting and a real advance if it works, there are many questions.

Is it just another version of inertial navigation where it tells you how far and in what direction you moved? 

Is it an absolute motion measurement? In which case, how does it compensate for all motion? The Earth rotating. The Earth orbiting the Sun. The Sun going around the galaxy. The galaxy moving in he universe. Not to mention all the gravity forces from the other planets in our solar system wiggling all the motions of Earth a tiny bit but significant to precise guidence. 

This could be really complicated.

Edit: 
It seems to be a quantum inertial platform and not a GPS guidence system after I read further. Pretty much useless in deep space navigation. You would still need to calculate where everything is and navigate by known reference objects. If you don't know where you are it can't tell you how to get home or anywhere else because it only says what direction you are moving and how fast. It will need sextents and spectral analizers for references to function. 

Not a galactic position system at all. Just a directional and speed measurement device.

[imitator]

Edit: 
It seems to be a quantum inertial platform and not a GPS guidence system after I read further. Pretty much useless in deep space navigation. You would still need to calculate where everything is and navigate by known reference objects. If you don't know where you are it can't tell you how to get home or anywhere else because it only says what direction you are moving and how fast. It will need sextents and spectral analizers for references to function. 

Not a galactic position system at all. Just a directional and speed measurement device.

It never said it was a replacement for GPS that magically knows your exact position anywhere in the universe.  
It’s not a sci-fi system… at least not yet. It is more precise in tracking movement and stays accurate.

However, it does lead to hybrid systems like Relativistic Autonomous Navigation or Pulsar-based Navigation... so yeah… your galactic position system might actually be coming sooner than you think. 

[BeyondKnowledge]

It never said it was a replacement for GPS that magically knows your exact position anywhere in the universe.  
It’s not a sci-fi system… at least not yet. It is more precise in tracking movement and stays accurate.

However, it does lead to hybrid systems like Relativistic Autonomous Navigation or Pulsar-based Navigation... so yeah… your galactic position system might actually be coming sooner than you think. [Image: https://denyignorance.com//images/addsmi...artian.gif]

But if the power glitches, any ship could take years to reaquire any reference star and at least three positively identified stars are necessary to fix a position. 

Even on the ground, this system would only be as accurate as the known reference points. And GPS is notorious to be many feet off on maps, and it has the advantage of having many signal references shortly after being turned on.

Like the laser gyro, this is just another instrument and not a navigation system.

Spaceships are still going to navigate by sextent just like the Apollo capsules did.

[imitator]

Yeah… but the point is that once you power back up, you can instantly recalibrate, as long as you have something like a pulsar-based navigation signal or any other constant reference source.

And if that signal drops, a quantum INS can keep you accurate for months or even longer... so you don’t need to reacquire reference stars as often... if your in a spaceship lol...

Of course… if you lose both, then yeah... you’re screwed and back to sextants and hope.
Spaceships still carry duct tape too..

[Kwaka]

In this description of the system, it maintains alignment by using a gravity map of the Earth as it measures the strength of the gravity along its journey. Not going to work too well in deep space navigation either. As for moving next generation disruption system in electrogravitics, end up with something faster than a rocket in getting to deep space.

[BeyondKnowledge]

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtwn3gJjdKU]

In this description of the system, it maintains alignment by using a gravity map of the Earth as it measures the strength of the gravity along its journey. Not going to work too well in deep space navigation either. As for moving next generation disruption system in electrogravitics, end up with something faster than a rocket in getting to deep space.

Thank you for that video. It explains how the system works rather than hyping up how the readings are made. All the OP links are just touting the 'breathrough' rather than how it works in real world applications. Much better reporting in that video.

It still relies on satalite readings of gravemetric anomalies but that would be maintained locally in a database rather than relying on satalite signals in real time. I could also see this possibly predicting earthquakes by measuring magma movements from the gravity changes.

In space, it could function as sensors for measuring all masses that have gravity. Not so much as a inertial platform though. The computer system using these measurements cound interperate the inerta platform readings from the data and also track any unknown movement without having to scan directionally like radar and lidar do.

This may have caused the bad reporting. The public isn't supposed to know this much yet. 

Ok, we not only have possible navigation but sensors as well. We need to finish working on that warp drive next.

[imitator]

Thank you for that video. It explains how the system works rather than hyping up how the readings are made. All the OP links are just touting the 'breathrough' rather than how it works in real world applications. Much better reporting in that video.

This may have caused the bad reporting. The public isn't supposed to know this much yet. 

Ok, we not only have possible navigation but sensors as well. We need to finish working on that warp drive next.

"rather than how it works in real world applications?"

Maybe you missed the X-37B article? It says the test is about maintaining accurate navigation without GPS in contested or signal-denied areas.

That’s the same real-world use case described in the quantum gravimeter video... using a gravity map and inertial sensing instead of relying on live satellite signals, etc...

 I agree that video pushes it a bit... those Australians are definitely bragging a little too much, lol 
You’re also not going to find a lot of detail on the actual X-37B sensor... mostly classified... reason I posted the research links.

[BeyondKnowledge]

"rather than how it works in real world applications?"

Maybe you missed the X-37B article? It says the test is about maintaining accurate navigation without GPS in contested or signal-denied areas.

That’s the same real-world use case described in the quantum gravimeter video... using a gravity map and inertial sensing instead of relying on live satellite signals, etc...

 I agree that video pushes it a bit... those Australians are definitely bragging a little too much, lol 
You’re also not going to find a lot of detail on the actual X-37B sensor... mostly classified... reason I posted the research links.

The X-37B article is going into great lengths about the detection unit and avoiding what it can do. Like bringing out wifi in 1980 without the Internet and smart everything.. Most people would find it useless without the rest of the parts we have now.

And yes, we are not supposed to be discussing that a ground based device could most likely track heavy equipment (military equipment) anywhere within range of its processing power.

[UltraBudgie]

So, what are the chances that this is all BS, and what they really have is a GPS-like system that operates on ultra-low wavelength or frequency hopping or some such--much less jammable--and they just don't want to tell anyone about it? It would make a good cover if those capabilities were revealed to preemptively spin some quantum-bs hoodoo to point to, plus it might get the competition spending money chasing ghosts, if they're dumb enough.