PsiQuantum Collaborating with Airbus to Advance Quantum Computing for Aerospace
January 13, 2026
PALO ALTO, Calif. – PsiQuantum announced today that the company is collaborating with Airbus, Europe’s largest aeronautics and space company, to advance applications in aerospace for fault-tolerant quantum computers. Under the QuLAB project at Airbus, the two companies are combining their expertise to develop and evaluate quantum algorithms for complex problems in fluid mechanics—illustrating the promise of fault-tolerant quantum computing for aerospace solutions.
In a new paper, “Simulating Non-Trivial Incompressible Flows With a Quantum Lattice Boltzmann Algorithm,” researchers from PsiQuantum and Airbus present an application of fault-tolerant quantum computing to solve incompressible fluid flows under realistic conditions in computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Drawing from the theoretical framework developed by the same team in an additional paper, “An End-To-End Quantum Algorithm for Nonlinear Fluid Dynamics With Bounded Quantum Advantage,” the approach is built on a combination of methods for preparing and ultimately performing the computation on a fault-tolerant quantum computer. The paper’s approach is validated on several benchmark problems for aircraft aerodynamics. PsiQuantum shared more information about both papers and their findings in a new blog post today. Additionally, researchers from PsiQuantum will present this week at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) SciTech 2026 Forum in Orlando, Florida.
“As PsiQuantum prepares to build and deploy the world’s first fault-tolerant quantum computers, we are working closely with world-leading companies to ensure they are prepared to take full advantage of this technology,” said Alexander Kolks, Chief Business Officer at PsiQuantum. “Our partnership with Airbus underscores quantum computing’s game-changing potential for the aerospace industry—and our shared commitment to collaborate at the leading edge.”
Simulating quantum chemistry and partial differential equations (PDEs) is critical for modeling an important range of chemical and physical systems, including for common and complex applications in aerospace. However, large-scale computational resources are frequently insufficient for all the simulations that researchers want to perform.
Fault-tolerant quantum computers promise to model and simulate aerodynamic drag, impact modeling, and vibration analysis, delivering significant new advantages for companies across the aerospace industry. Once deployed, a fault-tolerant quantum computer could drastically improve the speed, scale, and accuracy of these critical simulations, potentially transforming the production and performance of aircraft and other aerospace systems.
As the world’s first fault-tolerant quantum computers are built and deployed, taking full advantage of their game-changing capabilities will require algorithms that are uniquely optimized for these systems. Reflecting the urgent need to ensure companies are prepared for the advent of utility-scale quantum computing, PsiQuantum launched Construct, the company’s software suite for designing, developing, and optimizing fault-tolerant quantum algorithms, in September 2025. PsiQuantum’s continuing partnership with Airbus illustrates the consequential opportunities for companies, especially firms in the aerospace industry, to help lay the groundwork for the arrival of utility-scale quantum computing.
About PsiQuantum
PsiQuantum was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. The company’s mission is to build and deploy the world’s first useful quantum computers. PsiQuantum’s photonic approach enables it to leverage high-volume semiconductor manufacturing, existing cryogenic infrastructure, and architectural flexibility to rapidly scale its systems. Learn more at www.psiquantum.com.