Real World Impact - IPAS Research Leads to Sovereign Timing Technology for Australia

In a New Major Milestone, IPAS Research Leads to Sovereign Timing Technology for Australia.

The first unit of TEMPO, a next-generation optical atomic clock developed by South Australian company QuantX Labs, has now been shipped to its first customer.

This milestone marks the successful translation of foundational research at the Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS) into a commercial product supporting Australia’s sovereign capability in advanced timing.

Born from years of research led by IPAS at the University of Adelaide, QuantX Labs was established to commercialise precision timing technologies. TEMPO, a Compact Rubidium Optical Clock, represents a major step forward. It delivers the performance of laboratory-grade optical clocks in a smaller, portable format tailored for real-world deployment.

While traditional microwave atomic clocks underpin systems like GPS and Galileo, TEMPO offers significantly enhanced stability and accuracy. Its design enables:

• High-precision navigation on mobile terrestrial platforms
• Resilient and secure timing for communications and radar
• Deployment in MEO and LEO space-based PNT constellations

The clock is engineered with configurable Size, Weight and Power (SWaP), allowing it to meet diverse operational needs.

Professor Andre Luiten, IPAS Chief Innovator and co-founder of QuantX Labs, wrote on LinkedIn:

"This never gets old! And is a testament to many years of hard work at QuantX Labs and at the Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS) before that. Thank you to all who have contributed sweat, intellect and time, but most importantly enthusiasm and humour to keep making this happen. Equally importantly – our gratitude to our customers for your support."

With this shipment, IPAS celebrates the journey from lab-based research to a high-impact commercial product, reinforcing South Australia's role in shaping future industries and delivering critical technologies for national resilience.