An ambitious project to map the Earth’s magnetic field, led by an American Defense agency, will use a Quebec innovation. The Sherbrooke firm SBQuantum was indeed chosen from three companies in the world to test its diamond-based sensor in space.
The announcement that will be made this Thursday morning concerns the final phase of a program launched in 2019 called the MagQuest Challenge. It was inaugurated by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), an intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense. The Quebec firm SBQuantum was chosen in 2020 among the three winners of the MagQuest Challenge, which earned it a prize of US$225,000.
The MagQuest Challenge is now in the final stage where the solutions of the selected companies are tested in greater depth. “We are one of the three firms in the world that will be at the origin of all navigation maps,” explains David Roy-Guay, CEO and co-founder of SBQuantum. The NGA believes in it and wants to make it [mature]. It’s cutting-edge technology, and it’s happening in Quebec. »
Little known to ordinary people, the mapping of the earth’s magnetic field is nevertheless used by billions of cell phone owners and for transport, particularly air and sea. Until now, data collection in this field was mainly the responsibility of the European Space Agency. The MagQuest Challenge is precisely a project aimed at giving the United States a back-up in this area, explains Mr. Roy-Guay.
Essentially, SBQuantum has designed a sensor called a “diamond-based quantum magnetometer,” combined with correction algorithms, that enables high accuracy in measuring the variation of the Earth’s magnetic field. The Sherbrooke firm has teamed up with another MagQuest Challenge finalist, Spire Global, which has some 150 small artificial satellites called CubeSats in orbit.
“To move on to the next phase, NASA organized tests last May,” explains Kayla Johnson, quantum physicist at SBQuantum. We passed the tests for accuracy, we proved that our sensor can perform well in extreme conditions. »
Even if the American army oversees this project, SBQuantum’s work does not have a direct military application, specifies the CEO. It is impossible, for example, to guide missiles or spot a submarine from space using fluctuations in the magnetic field alone. “Resolution from space is not enough. This is more about cartography for all navigation. »
Founded in 2016, SBQuantum now has 13 employees and plans to soon enter the commercialization stage of its technology. “We are at the pilot stage with potential customers,” explains Mr. Roy-Guay.