CARIOQA-PMP (Cold Atom Rubidium Interferometer in Orbit for Quantum Accelerometry – Pathfinder Mission Preparation) is a project of the Horizon Europe program, funded by the European Commission. It aims at developing a new technology to be used in space within the next decade: quantum accelerometry. This technology will be used for satellite-based Earth science in order to monitor climate change and thus support the development of mitigation and adaptation measures.

The technology developed within the CARIOQA-PMP framework aims to be tested during a space mission: the Quantum Pathfinder Mission. In addition to the development of an engineering model for the space mission instrument and the development, improvement and testing of critical technologies, CARIOQA-PMP will also establish a technical and programmatic roadmap for quantum space gravity missions. This roadmap will be shared and validated by European stakeholders. It will ensure that the impact of the project’s results is maximised through its harmonisation with the European programmatic framework.

More information on the CARIOQA-PMP website.

Publications

 Alireza HosseiniArani, Manuel Schilling, Benjamin Tennstedt, Alexey Kupriyanov, Quentin Beaufils, Annike Knabe, Arpetha C. Sreekantaiah, Franck Pereira dos Santos, Steffen Schön, Jürgen Müller
"Combined Classical and Quantum Accelerometers For the Next Generation of Satellite Gravity Missions"
Earth and Space Science 12, e2024EA004187 (2025)

 Alireza HosseiniArania, Manuel Schilling, Quentin Beaufils, Annike Knabe, Benjamin Tennstedt, Alexey Kupriyanov, Steffen Schön, Franck Pereira dos Santos, Jürgen Müller
"Advances in Atom Interferometry and their Impacts on the Performance of Quantum Accelerometers On-board Future Satellite Gravity Missions"
Advances in Space Research 74, 3186-3200 (2024)

 Quentin Beaufils, Julien Lefebve, Joel Gomes Baptista, Raphaël Piccon, Valentin Cambier, Leonid A. Sidorenkov, Christine Fallet, Thomas Lévèque, Sébastien Merlet, Franck Pereira Dos Santos
"Rotation related systematic effects in a cold atom interferometer onboard a Nadir pointing satellite"
NPJ Microgravity 9, 53 (2023)