David Mitlyng for Xairos

A Present from China
While Russia is threatening to blow up the GPS satellites, China has taken a different tack.
Like Russia, they have their own anti-satellite capabilities and a GPS alternative called BeiDou.
Officially commissioned last year, BeiDou consists of 30 satellites with advanced technologies including optical links to "improve their satnav accuracy."
China is now offering access to BeiDou including free receivers, starting with a recently announced "win-win cooperation" with the Arab States.
Experts believe this is "part of their larger Belt and Road initiative" and "an indication of China’s ascension in the world".

Last Week's Theme: Distributed Systems Need Better Timing

• Submitted a National Science Foundation (NSF) proposal with our university partner, and now prepping for a slew of new solicitations in the new year: NIST Phase I (expected January 14), NASA SBIR (expected January 6) and Air Force X22.1 CSO, DoD SBIR 22.1 and STTR 2022.A.
• Preparing a new patent and presentation for Photonics West.
• Building up our Advisory Board and hardware partnerships to be announced in the new year.
• Virtually attended the TC Sessions: Space 2021. Lots of good insights about a big year in space, including a flurry of SPACs, mergers and acquisitions ("You can't spell space without SPAC"), the first steps towards space tourism, and ambitious plans among space startups to remove orbital debris, monitor climate change, and improve on GPS using entangled photons.
• Working on the usual end-of-the-year wrap up, including planning for 2022, internal account reviews, and insurance audit.

2022

• SPIE Photonics West, January 22 - 27, San Francisco, CA
• Inside Quantum Technology The Hague, February 21 - 23, The Hague, Netherlands
• Quantum Information Processing (QIP 2022), March 7 - 11, Pasadena, CA
• Satellite 2022, March 21 - 24, Washington DC
• Quantum Business Europe, March 23 - 24, location TBD
• IEEE International Conference on Space Optical Systems and Applications, March 28 - 31, Kyoto, Japan
• Space Symposium, April 4 - 7, Colorado Springs, CO
• Workshop on Synchronization and Timing Systems, May 9 - 12, Denver, CO
• Photonics for Quantum, June 6 - 9, Rochester, NY
• Quantum.Tech Boston, June 14-15, Boston, MA
• Quantum 2.0 Conference and Exhibition, June 13 - 16, Boston, MA
• IEEE Quantum Week 2022, September 18 - 23, Broomfield, CO

• Space Capital and Silicon Valley Bank released "The GPS Playbook", a report on how this "space-based technology generated the largest venture outcomes in history."
• The National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Advisory Board held their annual meeting. Former CIA Director of Russia Analysis and "The Russia Trap" author George Beebe presented insights on how GPS "influence geopolitics and historical examples of how technology imbalances can spark wars."
• US funding for quantum initiatives is expected to grow to $877 million in FY2022, based on a proposal from the U.S. National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). In addition, the recently passed Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act provides more than $30 billion for new research and development (R&D), while the FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act would increase defense R&D funding to $118 billion.  
• One day there will be a quantum internet, and it will be space-based.
• New video posts: QURECA Quantum Pitch Competition 2021 Highlights and Quantum.Tech Different Approaches to Getting Started on your Quantum Journey

Previously we highlighted online quantum and timing and synchronization resources.
Here are some quantum communication articles for your holiday reading list:

• Quantum Tech Made Simple, blog post by Xairos' Quantum Scientist Freya Wilson
• Quantum Cryptography Demystified: How It Works in Plain Language, ExtremeTech
• Explainer: What is Quantum Communication?, MIT Technology Review
• Quantum Communications: A Primer

And if you need a stocking stuffer, here are some good introductory books about quantum physics:

• Beyond Weird: Why Everything You Thought You Knew about Quantum Physics Is Different, by Philip Ball 
• Through Two Doors at Once, by Anil Ananthaswamy
• The Theoretical Minimum: What You Need to Know to Start Doing Physics, by Leonard Susskind

To learn more, please email us or schedule a meeting here.