David Mitlyng for Xairos
You Better Watch Out
Two weeks ago the Russians launched an extremely destructive and unnecessary anti-satellite missile.
Two months ago Russia started covertly amassing troops at the Ukraine border.
Coincidence?
Last week Russia made the claim that their new 'Star Warrior' missiles could obliterate our GPS satellites ahead of a possible invasion of the Ukraine.
And it wasn't subtle; the direct quote from Russia Channel One TV host Dmitry Kiselyov: “if NATO crosses our red line, it risks losing all 32 of its GPS satellites at once.”
What is the red line, you ask?
Maybe, just maybe, this is a thinly-veiled threat that if Russia invades the Ukraine, and NATO responds, they will cripple Western communications and power by disrupting GPS.
And they don't need the 'Star Warrior' to wreak havoc - they can simply blind or jam the GPS satellites. After all, our satellites are attacked "every single day."
So be good for goodness sake!
Last Week's Theme: We Need to get the Bullseye off of GPS
- In the Bay Area this week for the 2021 Q2B Quantum Start-ups Pitch Session.
- Working with our mentors (thank you Sally Daub!) to prepare for the next CDL Quantum Stream session.
- Working on National Science Foundation (NSF) proposals with our university partner.
- Looking ahead to NASA, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and Air Force 22.1 solicitations.
- Preparing presentation for SPIE Photonics West in January.
- Finalizing Advisor and partnership agreements, with announcements coming soon.
2021
- Q2B Practical Quantum Computing, December 7 - 9, Santa Clara, CA
- TC Sessions: Space 2021, December 14 - 15, virtual
2022
- Colloquium on the Physics of Quantum Electronics (PQE 2022), January 10 - 14, Snowbird, Utah
- 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
- IEEE Quantum Week 2022, September 18 - 23, Broomfield, CO
- China has their own satellite navigation system called BeiDou as a counterpart to GPS. They just announced the addition of optical link capabilities to increase communication bandwidth and improve “satnav accuracy by a factor of 6 to 40 by synchronizing the satellites’ atomic clocks with laser beams.” Hmmm, who else do we know that is developing optical links for improved timing?
- The recently released "State of the Space Industrial Base 2021" report prepared by the US Space Force, Defense Innovation Unit, and Air Force Research Laboratory argued that "Space is Critical Infrastructure - Our space assets are not only infrastructure, they are infrastructure critical to the functioning of our economy and society....They synchronize our power grid. They synchronize, coordinate and secure our financial transactions."
- Is SpaceX going bankrupt? Not likely - seems like a threat to motivate the employees. But it is worth recalling that 13 years ago SpaceX and Tesla - now worth $100B and $1T respectively - were both a week away from failing.
Do you want to impress friends and family at holiday parties with your quantum knowledge?
A good starting point: the entertaining and educational "Why Quantum Computing Deserves Your Attention, But Especially Now" webinar hosted by the "QC enthusiasts" at UC Berkeley.
Skip ahead to a quantum computing overview at 41:50 and The Quantum Frontier at 2:09:40.
Then download two free e-books: the first chapter of "Q is for Quantum" by Terry Rudolph and "Understanding Quantum Technologies" by Olivier Ezratty.
Once you become an expert you can join the EntangledQuery Q&A platform and follow Quantumapalooza.
If you want to invest in quantum startups, check out the 2021 Quantum Investment Summit presentations.
And to keep up with news about quantum companies, sign up for the Quantum Computing Report email list and, of course, keep reading our newsletter.
To learn more, please email us or schedule a meeting here.