Palo Alto, CA; June 25, 2024 – After development and testing with leading government and private sector partners, SandboxAQ is officially announcing AQNav, a breakthrough technology designed for navigation across air, land and sea when Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) systems are jammed or not available. To date, AQNav has logged more than 200 flight-hours and more than 40 sorties across multiple regions of the world on four different aircraft types, ranging in size from single-engine planes to large military transport aircraft.

AQNav is a geo-magnetic navigation system that leverages proprietary AI algorithms, powerful quantum sensors, and the Earth’s crustal magnetic field. AQNav will provide an unjammable, all-weather, terrain-agnostic, real-time navigation solution in situations where GPS signals are unavailable, denied, or spoofed.  

“GPS is a ubiquitous tool that billions of people rely on every day for their comfort, safety, security and prosperity. The intentional disruption of this transformational technology by nation-states and others puts human lives at risk and impacts governments and economies,” said Jack D. Hidary, CEO of SandboxAQ. “Working closely with our public- and private-sector partners, SandboxAQ has used AI and quantum tech to create a safe, secure navigation alternative to supplement GPS, and we’re proud to make our breakthrough AQNav system widely available to companies and governments around the world.”

In January 2023, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) awarded SandboxAQ a Direct-to-Phase-II Small Business Innovation Research contract to explore geomagnetic navigation. By May 2023, the company successfully completed the first flight tests of AQNav – eight months ahead of schedule – during Exercise Golden Phoenix. The system was also flight-tested in August 2023 during Exercise Mobility Guardian – Air Mobility Command's largest exercise ever at the time.

In addition to the USAF, SandboxAQ is engaged with several aerospace leaders, including other allied governments as well as Boeing and Acubed – the Silicon Valley research and innovation center of Airbus.  All have used the system on test flights in many different geographies across the globe. Acubed recently awarded SandboxAQ an RFP to continue the evaluation of the AQNav system for commercial aviation.

AQNav uses extremely sensitive quantum magnetometers to acquire data from Earth’s crustal magnetic field, which exhibits geographically unique patterns – similar to a human fingerprint. AQNav uses AI algorithms to compare this data against known magnetic maps, enabling the system to quickly and accurately find its position. Due to the high sensitivity of quantum sensors, AI algorithms are applied to improve the signal-to-noise ratio, removing any mechanical, electrical, or other interference that would impact the system’s ability to acquire its location.

“GPS is easy to jam and spoof.  When planes and ships lose GPS in motion and switch over to inertial navigation systems, the vehicle then drifts and soon finds itself off course. The Earth’s crustal magnetic field provides a persistent, passive external signal, making it a highly reliable data source for navigation in concert with other inertial and other sources,” said Luca Ferrara, General Manager of Navigation at SandboxAQ. “AQNav works with existing navigation systems, including inertial, visual, satellite, and other emerging technologies, creating a robust and resilient system-of-systems that will improve navigational accuracy and safety for our customers.”

AQNav offers worldwide availability and the approach can be applied in all domains, including air, land, and sea. The system doesn't rely on visual ground features or satellite transmissions to function and is not affected by weather conditions. AQNav operates at room temperature, requires no shielding, and has a small form factor that can be integrated into a wide variety of platforms, from multi-engine airliners to unmanned aerial vehicles. Its passive technology emits no electronic signals, which reduces the aircraft's detectability.

AQNav increases useful navigation for aircraft navigating within the frameworks of regulatory bodies such as the International Civil Aviation Organization and U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's established area navigation and performance-based navigation concepts. SandboxAQ and its partners are exploring a broad range of use cases that utilize this core functionality for both commercial and defense applications. In addition to improving civilian, commercial and military aviation, AQNav's underlying approach could also be used to improve autonomous vehicle control and can operate underwater where GPS signals cannot reach.