IonQ has landed a $28 million contract extension through DARPA’s It’s About Time program to scale production of its Evergreen-05 optical atomic clocks and deliver 125 units to U.S. government customers for radar, secure communications and precision geolocation, the company announced late on August 5, 2026.
Evergreen-05 goes into mass production
Originally developed under DARPA’s Robust Optical Clock Network program by then-startup Vector Atomic, the Evergreen-05 is a shoebox-sized, 5-liter optical clock with 50-femtosecond timing stability at one second and nanosecond holdover over 10 days — projecting to timing error under one second over 30 million years. Compared with active hydrogen masers, IonQ says the clock delivers superior short-term stability and phase noise in about one-seventy-fifth of the volume.
$15M into a dedicated production line
To hit the delivery schedule, IonQ says it will spend $15 million on dedicated production space, manufacturing and test equipment and support staff. Chairman and CEO Niccolo de Masi called Vector Atomic’s clocks and sensors “the best in the world” and said DARPA’s continued investment validates IonQ’s October 2025 acquisition. Marty Boyd, director of IonQ’s timekeeping division and Vector Atomic co-founder, said the extension lets the team scale commercial delivery.
Positioning quantum sensing for defense
The award broadens IonQ beyond quantum computers into the fast-growing quantum position, navigation and timing market, complementing recent moves including the just-closed $1.8 billion SkyWater acquisition, the Rigetti/HPE TangleLab testbed and PsiQuantum’s $125M DARPA Stage C award. It also lands the same week as IBM’s verified quantum advantage claim, underscoring the shift of quantum tech from lab curiosity into defense-grade hardware.
Reporting based on coverage from Business Wire, StockTitan, Quantum Zeitgeist and The Quantum Insider.