MilitarySatcomScience

IonQ Buys Capella Space For Quantum Comms Gambit

An image of wildfire damage in Altadena, CA, captured by a Capella SAR spacecraft. Image: Capella.
An image of wildfire damage in Altadena, CA, captured by a Capella SAR spacecraft. Image: Capella.

Capella Space, a CO-based company that operates a constellation of synthetic aperture radar satellites, is set to be purchased by IonQ, a quantum computing firm that plans to use Capella’s technology as the basis for a space-based quantum communications network.

The all-stock deal valued Capella at $311M, according to SEC filings and yesterday’s $IONQ closing price. It’s expected to close in the second half of the year. Capella has raised $320M in equity capital since it was founded in 2016, according to Pitchbook.

Thesis: “If you want to make sure that you can deliver the benefit of secure, quantum-enabled comms, you need to be in space,” Matt Ocko, a partner at venture firm DCVC and member of Capella’s board, told Payload.

Plug ‘n’ play: IonQ executive chairman Peter Chapman told investors on an earnings call yesterday that Capella’s technology will be used as the basis for quantum space hardware that will ultimately be sold to other satcom firms. 

“Capella has an application today which is revenue generating,” Chapman said. “Not only will this give us access to an environment to get the hardware to work in space, but it also gives us our first application and first customers to actually validate this in a real world application.”

Ocko said the technical challenges Capella solved to operate its radar and transmit that imagery to Earth will enable IonQ’s network plans, describing the company as “a platform with bulletproof space heritage, trusted by multiple allies, [that has] already solved all the technical problems to run a space-to-space and space-to-ground quantum comms package.”

Key master: Quantum computing is theoretically capable of breaking existing encryption systems, as well as creating new, more difficult to decipher codes—something that’s of interest to military and intelligence agencies. IonQ has acquired several companies in its efforts to develop a quantum network.

Ah, Capella: An early mover among US SAR start-ups, Capella has seven satellites on orbit and sales deals with NASA and US intelligence agencies. In 2023, the company suffered apparent propulsion problems that led its satellites to decay faster than expected, and the loss of a spacecraft in a Rocket Lab launch failure. Founding CEO Payam Banazadeh stepped down that fall and was replaced by current chief Frank Backes, who will now lead IonQ’s quantum space work.

Related Stories
Military

Ursa Major Had A Hot Week 

The propulsion firm is carving out a niche in the fields of highest interest to the Pentagon.

InternationalMilitary

Europe’s Space Defense Industry Sees Opportunity in Discord

European governments have unshackled budget rules and funded a five-year rearmament plan.

InternationalMilitaryOpinion

Op-ed: A Resilient Europe Means Learning from the US Model 

Amid shifting global power balances and an ongoing war on European soil, it’s more important than ever for Europe to quickly address its fragmented, painfully slow, and overly cautious procurement process—or risk permanently lagging behind those who want to do it harm. 

BusinessMilitary

AeroVironment Acquires BlueHalo in $4.1B Deal

As warfare becomes increasingly dependent on space-based infrastructure and the link between space capabilities and terrestrial systems, AV aims to use its technologies to connect military tech in different domains.