Insider Brief
Q-CTRL demonstrated GPS-free maritime navigation using a quantum gravimeter, maintaining positioning accuracy within one nautical mile during trials in Australia’s Coral Sea.
The Ironstone Opal system maps small variations in Earth’s gravity and uses AI-powered software to operate under heavy-sea conditions without specialized stabilization or frequent recalibration.
Q-CTRL said the passive navigation technology does not rely on external radio signals, making it resistant to GPS jamming and spoofing.
PRESS RELEASE — Q-CTRL, the global leader in quantum infrastructure software, today announced a major milestone in real-world quantum sensing deployments. In a world-first field demonstration, the company successfully navigated a maritime vessel without GPS using a new form of software-ruggedized quantum gravimeter. Through a series of trials in the Coral Sea off the East Coast of Australia, Q-CTRL performed autonomous gravity mapping and GPS-free quantum-gravimetric navigation, achieving the key metric of one nautical mile positioning accuracy.
