For more than 20 years, GPS has quietly powered much of our modern world—from guiding airplanes and ships to timing financial trades and running power grids.
But this invisible backbone of our daily lives is far more vulnerable than most people realize.
In recent years, GPS jamming and spoofing—where signals are blocked or faked—have become increasingly common, with serious consequences.
In 2024, more than 1,000 commercial flights a day were affected by GPS spoofing, especially in regions like the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
When this happens, a plane’s navigation systems might show it flying miles from its real location or at a completely wrong altitude.
At sea, spoofed signals have even caused ships to drift off course or run aground. These aren’t random technical glitches—they are often deliberate acts of electronic warfare.
Now, scientists and engineers are developing quantum technologies that could help pilots and ship captains navigate safely without relying on GPS at all.
These systems are already being tested by companies like Boeing, Infleqtion, SandboxAQ, and AOSense, many of which are partners in the Chicago Quantum Exchange, a hub linking top universities, national labs, and industry leaders.
In 2023, SandboxAQ ran its first flight tests with the U.S. Air Force, and in 2024 Boeing completed the world’s first flight using multiple quantum navigation systems.
The Boeing test lasted four hours across the central U.S., relying solely on quantum-based sensors with no GPS input.
The trial combined two very different technologies: a magnetic navigation system from SandboxAQ, which maps Earth’s magnetic field, and an inertial navigation system from AOSense, which tracks movement using ultra-precise sensors.
Caitlin Carnahan of Infleqtion, another company working in the field, says quantum navigation doesn’t just improve current systems—it offers a whole new way to navigate that avoids GPS vulnerabilities entirely.
Quantum navigation draws on ancient methods of finding one’s way. For centuries, travelers used fixed landmarks like stars or mountains. Today’s GPS works similarly, using satellites whose movements are known and predictable.
But another approach is to measure your movement from a starting point—called inertial navigation—or to compare real-time data to a detailed map, known as map matching.
AOSense’s quantum inertial navigation uses accelerometers and gyroscopes that are so sensitive they can detect changes in motion smaller than the width of an atom. This allows them to track movement with extreme precision, even in space, without needing maps or external reference points.
SandboxAQ’s magnetic navigation, on the other hand, senses subtle variations in Earth’s magnetic field—caused by natural geology or human structures—and matches them to a pre-existing map, much like terrain-following radar. Birds may use a similar sense to migrate across continents. The quality of these magnetic maps is crucial, and factors like aircraft type, altitude, and speed also affect performance.
Infleqtion is exploring both approaches and has tested its quantum inertial navigation in commercial flights in the UK, with U.S. trials planned. It is also developing AI software called SAPIENT, which merges data from multiple sensors to create a stronger, more reliable navigation signal.
With GPS interference becoming more common in global conflict zones, experts believe the need for quantum navigation will only grow. As SandboxAQ’s Ken Devine put it, “We’ve validated that we can do real-time navigation with this technology. And that’s huge, because the need for it is only going to increase.”
