Pathfinder Experiments with Quantum Gases and Atom Interferometry in NASA's Cold Atom Lab on the International Space Station

NASA’s Fundamental Physics Program seeks to explore the fundamental nature of the universe using space-based quantum technologies. On Earth, quantum sensors are evolving into ultra-precise instruments for both fundamental research and practical applications. Extending these technologies into space enables transformative science by accessing unique microgravity environments and eliminating gravitational limits on sensor precision and quantum-gas control. Space-based studies with quantum gases therefore offer unprecedented opportunities to deepen our understanding of the physical laws and organizing principles of nature, and to advance both space exploration and benefits to humanity.

As a pathfinder mission, the Cold Atom Lab (CAL) launched to the International Space Station in May 2018, and continues operating as the world’s first multi-user facility for the study of ultracold quantum gases and atom interferometry in space. CAL’s suite of quantum tools are employed by five teams of flight investigators to conduct space-enabled investigations, including creation and manipulation of Bose–Einstein condensates in microgravity, quantum gas control (achieving effective temperatures as low as 52 picokelvin), few-body physics, and studies of ultracold gases in bubble-shaped geometries. On-orbit upgrades, by the resident ISS astronauts, have also enabled key milestones such as the first dual-species BECs of 87Rb and 41K in space, studies of interactions among 87Rb, 39K, and 41K mixtures in microgravity, and the first dual-species (87Rb–41K) atom interferometer in orbit. Various quantum sensing demonstrations have also been achieved using the CAL atom interferometer in Earth’s orbit.

This talk will review CAL’s technical and scientific achievements studying atom interferometry and quantum gases aboard the ISS. These advances have broad applications in fundamental physics and precision sensing, paving the way for future quantum-enabled mission opportunities.