Aquark Technologies secures £1.4m Innovate UK contract to strengthen UK's telecoms infrastructure with cold atom devices

Aquark Technologies has secured a £1.4m contract from Innovate UK to advance its deployable quantum timing systems, strengthening the UK’s telecoms infrastructure.

The Eastleigh-based company develops compact, cold atom-based quantum devices that deliver ultra-precise timing and synchronisation. The funding will support the rollout of AQlock 2, a second-generation atomic clock designed to make national networks more resilient by reducing reliance on vulnerable satellite signals.

The contract, which runs until March 2026, will see Aquark demonstrate its technology at a major UK telecommunications site, with NPL and Purbrook working as subcontractors on the project. The work forms part of the UK’s wider National Quantum Strategy, supporting critical infrastructure and mitigating the £1 bn in daily losses estimated to occur from GNSS outages.

Founded in 2021 by Alexander Jantzen and Andrei Dragomir, Aquark is focused on making quantum systems smaller, scalable, and deployable outside lab environments - using vacuum engineering, microfabrication and photonics to bring quantum precision into real-world settings.