SBQuantum, the first company developing quantum diamond magnetometers capable of providing accurate readings from space, has received another contract with the European Space Agency (ESA).

Funded through ESA’s FutureEO Program, the deal is worth nearly $1 million (€800,000) and will see SBQuantum deliver a new prototype of its quantum magnetometer sensor, optimized for Earth Observation (EO) missions in space.

The upgraded version of the device will remain the same size and weight while delivering a number of enhanced capabilities, including improved sensitivity (sub 100 Picotesla), higher bandwidth (400 Hz) and greater accuracy (200 Picotesla) as required by ESA for advanced EO missions.

This follows a previous contract wherein SBQuantum provided a magnetometer design to ESA, customized to meet that agency’s requirements for EO. This new contract also builds on continued support from the Canadian Space Agency’s Space Technology Development Program (STDP), funded in part by Canada’s National Quantum Strategy, and was made possible thanks to Canada’s unique status as the only non-European cooperating state of the ESA.

SBQuantum’s sensors can easily be mounted on small CubeSats and launched into orbit at a nominal cost, making precise, detailed data about the Earth’s magnetics and geophysics easily accessible to those stakeholders who require it for planning operations, mapping logistics or other relevant applications.

“Securing this second contract with ESA is the latest in a series of strong signals from the market indicating the vast potential our quantum magnetometers offer as a sensor deployed in space. The Earth and its ecosystem are evolving, and humankind needs to better monitor changes in ocean currents and temperatures, among many other transformations, so we can fully understand them, prepare and adapt,” said David Roy-Guay, CEO and Founder at SBQuantum. “A byproduct of demonstrating space readiness is that this doubles as a strong validation of terrestrial readiness for our hardware. By combining this highly accurate sensor with advanced interpretation algorithms, our Magnetic Intelligence product will also unlock novel security applications for an increasingly uncertain world. Our mission is to remain at the cutting edge of applied quantum sensing.”

“Our earlier research shows that diamond magnetometers may meet the performance needed for Earth observation. Now we need to prove that building such an instrument is possible,” said Aaron Strangfeld, Quantum & Emerging Sensing Technologies Engineer at ESA.