Light-Based Quantum Processor Runs in Orbit for Eight Months, a Preprint Reports
Nature World News | 02.10.2026 06:23
A programmable quantum processor that computes with individual particles of light has operated in orbit, according to a team led by Philip Walther of the University of Vienna, which describes it as the first quantum processor to do so. Over eight months in orbit, the device generated, manipulated, and detected pairs of photons and showed the quantum interference that photonic quantum computing depends on, the Quantum Computing Report summarized.
