Ed Ludlow

They will be very useful in the not too distant future, but quantum sensors are very useful today.

And so what we do, it's the same underlying technology, the same componentry inside, but we can turn those atoms into extremely precise sensors to sense what's happening on the Earth's surface and the world around you.

So in the case of what we're sending up into space, it's indeed a quantum sensor.

Matt, real quick, who's the launch provider?

Who puts you to orbit?

So we're on a SpaceX vehicle, and then the spacecraft itself is made by Northrop Grumman.

And real quick, what's that like, that experience as a customer, the door being opened to be able to get into orbit?

It's incredible.

I mean, we wouldn't be able to get this technology up unless the work that SpaceX and other folks are doing to make launches less expensive.

And so our partners at NASA have been wonderful in getting that all set up for us.

Can I jump in and just ask very briefly, from quantum clocks to what?

Because everyone's like, when is there going to be a really useful quantum computer?

IBM's saying 2029.

Is that your business model?

So the business model is, you might say, what the heck does a clock have to do with a computer?

They seem very different.

Well, in quantum, they really aren't, because what we're doing is we're taking advantage of the quantum mechanical principles of atoms, and then using those quantum mechanical principles, and with slight tweaks to what we're doing with lasers, can turn it into a clock, or in more, call it precise use cases, turn it into a computer.

And so the clock is in many ways a mini version of the computer.

question, when will computers be useful?

The timelines keep coming in and coming in, and the announcement that Google made on Q Day being here earlier and earlier, and Q Day is the day that we can break modern encryption with a quantum computer, getting pulled into 2029.