Jack Loughran Wed 15 Apr 2026
Collected at: https://eandt.theiet.org/2026/04/15/portable-atomic-clock-could-keep-ships-course-without-satellites
A portable atomic clock that has been successfully tested at sea could change the future of marine navigation.
Highly precise clocks could support future positioning systems that work even when satellite signals are unavailable or disrupted.
In telecommunications, they could improve the synchronisation of large networks that transmit enormous volumes of data every second, while scientists have proposed using them in radio astronomy, where extremely accurate timing helps link observations from telescopes around the world.
Adelaide University researchers have created a portable optical atomic clock that uses laser-cooled atoms of the element ytterbium to keep time with extreme precision. By cooling the atoms with lasers and measuring a very specific atomic transition, the clock can track time far more accurately than conventional systems.
Professor André Luiten, lead researcher on the project, said the goal was to take cutting-edge laboratory technology and make it usable in the field.
“Atomic clocks underpin many of the technologies we rely on every day, from satellite navigation to global communications,” he said.
“Until now, the most precise clocks have largely been confined to specialised labs. Our work shows that this kind of performance can be achieved in a portable system that operates outside the laboratory.”
The device was transported from the laboratory and installed on a naval vessel, where it operated continuously for several days while the ship was at sea. Despite the motion and environmental changes typical of a maritime environment, the clock maintained the same high level of performance observed during laboratory testing.
The team said it believed it was the first time a laser-cooled optical atomic clock has been demonstrated at sea.
“Testing the clock on a ship was a major milestone,” Luiten said.
“The marine environment presents vibration, movement and temperature changes that are very different from a controlled laboratory. Successfully running the clock in those conditions shows that the technology is robust and ready to move closer to real-world applications.”
In 2022, physicists unveiled one of the best performing atomic clocks to date, which can measure differences in time with a precision equivalent to losing just one second every 300 billion years.
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