WILKES-BARRE — Much like a science-fiction movie, Wilkes-Barre and Luzerne County appear to be turning to outer space for its next source of job creation.
Michael Bloxton, co-founder and CEO of Nebula Enterprise, on Monday said Northeast Pennsylvania represents a community ready, willing and able to make itself the center of the quantum supply chain for our nation.
“All the ingredients exist in these fertile grounds to execute the vision,” Bloxton said. “The local attitude to get things done and move forward is why we at Nebula and I personally will focus on NEPA.”
Bloxton was speaking at a news conference held in the Luzerne Bank Building, 67-69 Public Square, a building he owns and that will be transformed to a hotel.
U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic, ranking member on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science, joined Bloxton and leaders from the Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Defense (DoD) to announce a first-of-its-kind Quantum & Space Collaboration intended to accelerate the development of quantum technology in space and national defense efforts.
Bloxton and Peter Stridh co-founded Nebula Enterprise, one of the newly formed alliance’s strategic partners.
The public-private joint venture — which also includes hi-tech firms Infleqtion and Accenture Federal Services — brings together industry leaders in space-based communications, cyber and energy security, intelligence gathering; AI/machine learning; and high-precision data collection.
The collaboration aims to accelerate commercialization and enable new capabilities to further DOE, DoD and NASA mission objectives in the next five years. It is hoped that the project will begin in early 2024.
Cartwright, in explaining what this new alliance means for Northeast Pennsylvania, lauded the coalition as “just one of the ways we can collaborate to anchor scientific advancement and production know-how in the region to create the jobs and economy of the future.”
Cartwright added, “Our region holds the potential to lead the nation’s space economy because of cooperative efforts such as this one between federal agencies, private industry, higher learning institutions, economic development intermediaries and government officials.”
Stridh said Nebula is excited to be part of advancing the very latest technologies for Defense and NASA missions.
“These technologies have broad societal impacts beyond national security, and we consider the collaboration a stepping stone towards commercializing computing infrastructure that will enable a growing space economy,” Stridh said. “New applied use cases of technologies such as quantum computing and sensing will also benefit and augment several existing terrestrial industries over time.”
According to information provided at the news conference, quantum technology explores how matter and energy behave at the level of atoms or subatomic particles and has led to the development of such everyday technologies as lasers, smartphones, GPS satellites and medical devices. Future advances in the field promise to improve space-based navigation, national security and communications.
“This collaboration has been long in the making and is vital for ensuring that the United States remains at the forefront of innovation,” said Rima Kasia Oueid, lead/architect for the Quantum Space Collaboration and Senior Commercialization Executive at the DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions (OTT). “We stand on the brink of a new economic era — one that expands into space, propelled by current and soon-to-be-realized quantum technologies. These advancements are poised to enhance global safety, economic stability and overall human welfare, while also unlocking the potential to discover and efficiently use space resources. This could also create skilled blue- and white-collar jobs of the future to build the supply chain.”
She said the target is to begin space environmental demonstrations using quantum technologies by 2024 and to evaluate use cases and new commercialization opportunities.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), also issued a news release from Washington, D.C.
The participants seek to collaborate on quantum and other space-related activities to accelerate commercialization and enable new capabilities that further DOE, DOD, and NASA mission objectives in the next 5 to 10 years.
Scott Faris, CEO of Infleqtion, said the partnership represents an exciting opportunity to leverage cutting-edge resources and expertise from multiple sectors to accelerate the commercialization of quantum technologies.
“Together, we will harness the power of quantum sensing, quantum communications, and quantum computing to advance national security, energy, and economic interests,” Faris said.
Garland Garris, quantum security lead at Accenture Federal Services, said the collaboration involves the most promising technologies available today, and using them in combination can create a blueprint for the future.
“We are the first generation with the ability to control systems at the quantum level, and space is the perfect place for exploration and discovery with a lens on providing security,” Garris said.
The participating entities said they are poised to launch a concerted effort to synergize expertise in QIS, cyber-security, and space technology development.
They offered examples of where they seek to leverage their technology portfolio and platforms include the following capabilities across heterogeneous environments:
• Integrate and orchestrate Quantum Secure Communication Demonstration in Orbit
• Integrate and orchestrate QIS Demonstration in Orbit such as post quantum cryptography over satellite communications networks in LEO and GEO
• Support benchmarking of Classical AI/ML Algorithms
• Develop and test quantum algorithms
• Develop use cases for Hybrid Quantum and Classical Computing Space Platform
• Integrate and orchestrate workloads in multiple environments
• Unify and simplify the collection, organization, and analysis of data
• Automate operations to achieve better performance
• Automate IT operations to deliver actionable insights
• Automate application and data flows to improve client experiences
• Generate deeper insights into threats, orchestration actions and automate responses
• Integrate and orchestrate Quantum Sensing Demonstrations in Orbit for imaging, detection, position, navigation, and timing (PNT)
• Develop and test quantum sensing protocols in Orbit
• Develop use cases for quantum sensing in Orbit
• Integrate quantum sensing into a Hybrid Computing Space Platform
• Develop a mesh network of quantum sensors in Orbit
• Integrate and orchestrate Hybrid Quantum and Classical Computing in Orbit
• Develop and test quantum computing protocols in Orbit
• Develop a mesh network of Hybrid Quantum and Classical Computers in Orbit