Trump Orders Quantum Sensing Research to Replace GPS
Donald Trump ordered the Department of War to explore quantum sensing and other GPS alternatives to counter increasing Russian signal jamming.
The United States is accelerating the development of alternatives to Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) to counter the prevalence of signal jamming attributed to Russian satellites. Donald Trump ordered the Department of War in June to explore quantum sensing applications to ensure navigation reliability when GPS is unavailable.
Two primary technological paths are emerging to fill this gap. Quantum sensing firms, including Q-CTRL and SBQuantum, are developing magnetometers that allow navigation by measuring Earth's magnetic field anomalies. Simultaneously, researchers at Virginia Tech and ASPIN Lab are utilizing signals of opportunity, using Doppler shifts from cell tower transmissions and broadband satellites like Starlink and OneWeb to estimate positions.
While these alternatives currently lack the precision of traditional GPS, the U.S. Department of Transportation is funding the development of master receivers to reduce error margins. These efforts, combined with orbital forecasting data from Space Exploration Technologies Corp., aim to bring positioning accuracy within two meters.
