This workshop equips space mission planners and orbital engineers with quantum optimisation techniques for constellation design, collision avoidance scheduling, and trajectory planning.
Covers quantum optimisation applications in space mission planning: constellation coverage optimisation, collision avoidance manoeuvre scheduling for large LEO constellations, ground station contact scheduling, and interplanetary trajectory optimisation. Addresses QUBO formulations for orbital mechanics problems, annealing and gate-based approaches for real-time space traffic management, and the competitive landscape of quantum computing vendors active in space applications.
Space operations are generating combinatorial optimisation problems that grow faster than classical solver capacity. A constellation of 1,000 satellites produces millions of conjunction events per week, each requiring a decision about whether to manoeuvre. Ground station contact scheduling across a global network involves NP-hard constraints on antenna availability, orbital geometry, data priority, and handover timing. Classical solvers handle these today, but at increasing compute cost and with approximation trade-offs that degrade solution quality as constellation sizes grow. Quantum optimisation algorithms encode these constraints as QUBO (Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimisation) problems and solve them on quantum or quantum-inspired hardware. Current NISQ hardware can handle problems equivalent to 10 to 50 satellite constellation subsets with noise mitigation. The practical question is not whether quantum advantage exists in theory, but at what problem scale the crossover occurs for your specific operational workflow. This workshop maps that boundary with real space operations data.
Full-day session structure with scheduled breaks. Content is configurable to your constellation architecture, operations tempo, and existing optimisation toolchain.
| # | Session | Topics |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Classical Optimisation Limits in Space Operations Why constellation and trajectory problems exceed classical solver capacity | |
| 2 | Quantum Optimisation Algorithms for Orbital Mechanics QAOA, VQE, and quantum annealing applied to space problems |
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| Break, after 50 min | ||
| 3 | QUBO Formulations for Space Operations Problems Encoding orbital mechanics constraints as quantum-native representations |
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| 4 | Interactive Demonstration: Constellation Optimisation Pipeline Full-day format only |
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| Break, after 60 min | ||
| 5 | Hardware Limits and Honest Performance Assessment What works now, what does not, and the 2026-2030 frontier |
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| 6 | Vendor Landscape and Adoption Framework Independent guidance for space organisations evaluating quantum optimisation |
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| 7 | Q&A and Pilot Planning | |
Workshops are designed and delivered by QSECDEF in collaboration with sector specialists. All facilitators have direct experience in both quantum technologies and space systems.
Workshop design and delivery
QSECDEF brings world-leading expertise in post-quantum cryptography, quantum computing strategy, and defence-grade security assessment. Our advisory membership spans 600+ organisations and 1,200+ professionals working at the intersection of quantum technologies and critical infrastructure security.
Domain expertise and operational validation
Space workshops are co-delivered with sector specialists who bring direct operational experience in space organisations. This ensures workshop content is grounded in regulatory, operational, and technical realities specific to the sector.
Sessions are configured around your constellation architecture, operations tempo, and existing optimisation toolchain. Get in touch to discuss requirements and schedule a date.
Contact UsQuantum technologies are evolving quickly and new developments emerge regularly. This page was last updated on 15/03/2026. For the most current information about course content and suitability for your organisation, we recommend contacting us directly.
