February 26, 2026 -- What if every satellite could carry a quantum sensor the size of a shoebox?” This was the question asked by the Phi-Lab at ESDI, a Centre of Excellence initiated by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Switzerland to open their Quantum x Space call for proposals. After a competitive process, five projects were selected to be funded for a two-year period, including LINQS, which will work on building a universal quantum light engine on-chip, for a wide range of sensors.

When Hernán Furci, co-founder of CCRAFT and an EPFL alumnus who worked with the EPFL Space Center, heard about the call, he contacted Christophe Galland, head of the EPFL Laboratory of Quantum and Nano-Optics (LQNO) and QSE Center researcher. CCRAFT is a Swiss-based startup working on advancing high-performance thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) chips for scalable, high-volume manufacturing. As this technology is attractive for quantum applications due to its potential for miniaturization, Furci teamed up with Galland, who specializes in diamond photonics and quantum effects, to discuss using it on a real sensing case.

“I thought we could work together to make sensors that take advantage of what we do on the integrated photonics side and what Christophe does on the sensing side,” says Furci.

Normally, to achieve the kind of light state needed for quantum-enhanced sensing, very big and heavy setups are required, which are not ideal for going to space. Photonic technology combining TFLN and diamond will allow the LINQS project to miniaturize quantum sensing systems to have low size, weight and power consumption. The end goal of this project is a quantum sensor that can fit on a chip the size of a fingertip.

“We are trying to create a sensor that can be useful, and at the same time develop the versatile CCRAFT platform of lithium niobate, so that we can use it to generate quantum squeezed light that can have uses in space,” says Galland.

Squeezed light is created by sending laser light through crystals placed between carefully aligned mirrors, which enhance the light’s nonlinear interactions.

“This chip would solve the problems of building complex optical benches that are hard to launch into space,” says Furci, “because once it’s on a chip, all the glue, screws, etc. are no longer needed, and it’s practically resistant to any shock.”

The first step of the project will be to make the chip prototype to assess which circuits could work; this part is happening mostly at CCRAFT, with inputs from EPFL. At EPFL, Galland and his team will prepare the setup to characterize these chips and work on coupling TFLN to diamond waveguides with very low loss and high stability, because squeezed light is extremely sensitive to loss and unwanted noise, from temperature changes or tiny acoustic vibrations.

“The main challenge with handling squeezed light is that it is very susceptible to loss. When there is loss, we have vacuum noise entering the circuit, so light has to be isolated from all the perturbations,” Galland says. “If we lose too much, we lose the quantum advantage of squeezed light.”

In space, these sensors will be helpful for earth observation, GPS-denied navigation and intersatellite communication with precision beyond classical measurement.

“This project gives us the opportunity to see how far we get with qualifying all these materials for space application. We will also run irradiation tests and thermal cycling on these materials to confirm that they can stand conditions of space,” says Furci. “I’m excited to be in the Phi-Lab program because we can try to bring the technology that we have in the lab, which is really fundamental, to meet concrete needs of society, in particular in the space industry.”