TWIS 1/9/2026 Imperial quantum sensors tested in the Arctic

Global Positioning Systems (GPS) have become an essential part of modern lives for making travel convenient. Along with aiding navigation to unfamiliar places they also help understand real-time route diversions, delays, and congestion.

However, this system is not fool-proof yet. Losing signal while walking into a subway, underground railway station, or in hilly, remote terrain is not something new. Let alone ‘spoofing,’ the act of broadcasting fake signals to disrupt GPS positioning, which hampers the reliability of this system. These issues cost the UK economy billions.

There needs to be a system that bypasses these issues, and quantum sensors might be the answer. These sensors utilise the quantum phenomena – utilising an atom’s wave nature to calculate acceleration and rotations in the local environment.

Simply put, consider an atom as a jelly cube. Depending on how fast you drift or change direction, or rotate, the jelly cube moves. These changes in motion are recorded, and the intensity difference can be noticed in how strongly the jelly cube jiggles.

Imperial College researchers in collaboration with the Royal Navy are now testing these sensors in harsh arctic waters to assess how they work in turbulent conditions. Imperial-designed quantum sensors have also been used on the London Underground and tested with the Royal Navy before.

These quantum sensors are completely independent of satellite connections. Thus, they have promising applications in navigation reliant industries like aerospace, maritime, defence or subterranean mapping.