A new quantum sensor could give scientists an unprecedented way to measure tiny changes in Earth’s gravity from orbit.
NASA has awarded quantum technology company Infleqtion a $20 million follow-on contract to continue developing the Quantum Gravity Gradiometer Pathfinder (QGGPf), an ambitious mission designed to demonstrate a quantum gravity sensor in space.
The latest award brings NASA’s total investment in the program to $40 million and moves the project into an important new stage: building, testing, and preparing the sensor hardware.
Led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), QGGPf could become a major milestone in the development of space-based quantum sensing. The mission is intended to show that extremely sensitive quantum measurements can work in the challenging environment of low Earth orbit.
A New Way to Measure Earth
Gravity may seem constant, but it actually changes slightly from one location to another. These tiny differences are caused by variations in the distribution of mass beneath and above Earth’s surface.
For example, a region containing a large amount of underground rock can have a slightly different gravitational signature from an area containing less dense material. Changes in groundwater, melting ice, geological structures, and other sources of mass can also affect the local gravitational field.
QGGPf is designed to measure these subtle variations using quantum technology.
The mission focuses on measuring what scientists call a gravity gradient—essentially how gravity changes over a small distance. Measuring these differences with greater sensitivity could eventually allow future satellites to create much more detailed maps of Earth’s gravitational field.
That could provide valuable information about processes happening both on the surface and underground.
The Quantum Technology Behind the Mission
At the heart of QGGPf is a sensor based on ultracold atoms.
Infleqtion is responsible for developing the atomic physics package, which forms the quantum core of the instrument. This includes important systems for creating and controlling an extremely cold atomic environment, including vacuum, laser, and control subsystems.
The system uses rubidium atoms cooled to extremely low temperatures, reaching the pico-Kelvin scale.
At these temperatures, atoms behave in ways that allow scientists to make extraordinarily precise measurements. Lasers and other control systems can manipulate the atoms and track their motion with exceptional accuracy.
The basic idea is to use these atoms as highly sensitive probes of gravity.
Instead of relying only on conventional mechanical sensors, a quantum sensor can measure changes in an atom’s behavior caused by gravitational forces. This opens the door to measurements that could eventually be more sensitive and stable than traditional approaches.
From the International Space Station to a New Mission
QGGPf is not being developed from scratch.
The project builds on years of NASA and Infleqtion work involving the Cold Atom Lab (CAL) aboard the International Space Station. Cold Atom Lab has provided scientists with an important environment for studying ultracold atoms and quantum physics in microgravity.
Microgravity is particularly useful for these experiments because atoms can remain in controlled states for longer periods than they typically can on Earth.
The experience gained from Cold Atom Lab is helping engineers understand how quantum technologies can be operated in space.
QGGPf takes the next step by focusing specifically on using quantum sensing to measure Earth's gravitational field.
Testing the Sensor Before Launch
The newly funded phase will involve significant hardware development and testing.
Infleqtion plans to build an initial sensor head and an electronics engineering development unit. These components will then undergo testing at the Einstein Elevator, a specialized drop-tower facility in Hannover, Germany.
The facility can create short periods of microgravity, allowing engineers to test how the hardware behaves when the effects of gravity are greatly reduced.
Such testing is essential before sending sophisticated quantum equipment into orbit.
A laboratory experiment and a space mission are very different challenges. A sensor that works successfully in a controlled laboratory environment must also survive launch vibrations, operate reliably with limited power and resources, withstand the space environment, and continue making precise measurements for an extended period.
QGGPf is therefore as much an engineering demonstration as it is a quantum physics experiment.
Building on GRACE and GRACE-FO
NASA has a long history of using satellites to study Earth's gravity.
The GRACE and GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO) missions have demonstrated how changes in Earth's gravitational field can reveal movement of water and other mass around the planet.
These missions have provided important information about groundwater, ice sheets, glaciers, oceans, and other components of Earth's changing environment.
QGGPf represents a different technological approach.
Rather than simply continuing existing measurement techniques, the mission is designed to demonstrate how quantum gravity sensing could become the foundation for a new generation of instruments.
The goal is not necessarily to replace current missions immediately. Instead, QGGPf is a pathfinder—a mission intended to prove that the technology can work in space and identify the engineering challenges that must be solved before larger, more capable instruments are developed.
Why Better Gravity Measurements Matter
More precise gravity measurements could have important scientific and practical applications.
One major area is water management.
Changes in groundwater can alter the distribution of mass beneath Earth's surface. A highly sensitive space-based gravity sensor could eventually help scientists monitor these changes over large regions.
The same principle can be applied to ice. When glaciers and ice sheets lose mass, Earth's gravitational field changes slightly. Improved gravity measurements could therefore contribute to better monitoring of long-term changes in Earth's ice.
Future instruments could also help scientists study geological structures and the movement of natural resources.
This information could support research into climate change, water security, environmental monitoring, disaster resilience, and resource management.
A Major Step for Quantum Technology in Space
Infleqtion's latest NASA contract reflects a broader shift in quantum technology.
For years, quantum systems were primarily associated with laboratory experiments. Today, researchers are increasingly working to turn quantum effects into practical technologies for sensing, computing, navigation, and communication.
Space could become one of the most important environments for these technologies.
Quantum sensors can potentially detect extremely small changes in acceleration, rotation, magnetic fields, and gravity. In space, such capabilities could support scientific missions as well as future navigation and Earth-observation systems.
Infleqtion Chief Science Officer Dana Anderson described the project as moving beyond simply testing quantum technology itself toward demonstrating how quantum systems can be used in the space environment.
That distinction is important. The challenge now is not only proving that quantum physics works, but engineering reliable instruments that can use those effects outside the laboratory.
The Road to 2030
NASA and Infleqtion expect hardware development under this phase of the program to continue for approximately three years, with work expected through 2027.
After that, the project is expected to progress toward a flight demonstration.
The mission is currently expected to launch aboard a low Earth orbit spacecraft in 2030.
If successful, QGGPf could establish an important technical foundation for future high-resolution quantum gravity missions.
The eventual goal is much bigger than one sensor or one demonstration. Scientists envision space-based quantum instruments capable of detecting incredibly small changes in Earth's gravitational field and using those measurements to understand how mass moves around the planet.
The Beginning of a Quantum Era in Space
The $20 million follow-on award marks an important transition for QGGPf—from developing the concept and underlying technology toward building hardware that can eventually fly.
The mission brings together NASA's decades of experience in space-based gravity measurements, JPL's mission expertise, and Infleqtion's work in neutral-atom quantum technology.
If the technology succeeds, future satellites could look at Earth in a fundamentally different way.
Instead of observing only what is visible from above, quantum gravity sensors could reveal subtle changes taking place beneath the surface—from shifting groundwater and melting ice to geological and other changes in Earth's mass distribution.
QGGPf is still a technology demonstration, and many engineering challenges remain before the planned 2030 flight. But the project represents a significant step toward making quantum sensing a practical tool for space exploration and Earth observation.
The next generation of satellites may not just photograph our planet or measure its atmosphere. They could also sense the invisible gravitational fingerprints of a changing Earth.
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