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ST. LOUIS — Capella Space, the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite company known for capturing high-resolution images of Earth in all weather and lighting conditions, is preparing for a major pivot — one that could redefine how Earth-observation data is delivered and secured.
Earlier this month, IonQ, a Maryland-based quantum computing firm, announced its intent to acquire Capella in an all-stock deal valued at nearly $318 million. The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2025, pending regulatory approval. Capella will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of IonQ but continue to run and upgrade its SAR satellite constellation.
IonQ CEO Niccolo de Masi, a physicist and entrepreneur, took the company public in 2021 through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
IonQ’s long-term ambition is to build the world’s first space-based quantum key distribution network, a technology that promises ultra-secure communications. The acquisition of Capella is a first step in integrating space-based sensors with IonQ’s terrestrial quantum infrastructure to create a new layer of secure data transmission from space to Earth.
But there are no plans to abandon the SAR business. “We are 100% here to support the existing Capella business,” de Masi told SpaceNews.
Capella’s CEO Frank Backes said the company intends to modernize and grow its SAR constellation from four to eight satellites by next year. But with quantum computing now in the equation, the company’s path forward will be less about just taking images from space, and more about how that data moves, how fast, and how securely.
Why Capella?
De Masi said Capella’s government and intelligence customer base made the company especially appealing. Beyond the SAR imaging, the vision is to leverage IonQ’s quantum systems to address long-standing issues in space-based Earth observation — namely latency, security, and data throughput.
“We are highly interested in our ability to accelerate their growth, not just with capital,” said de Masi, “but also to address some of the latency issues that are always a feature of businesses that do things at high altitudes, hundreds of kilometers from Earth.”
Latency is a critical constraint for SAR companies. Today, the challenge isn’t just capturing the data — it’s how fast that data can be transmitted, processed and secured. Backes described this integration with IonQ as a leap ahead in solving all three problems.
“In the SAR industry there are three primary challenges,” Backes said. “One is latency, two is security and three is capacity. And this alignment with IonQ allows us to not just get ahead of what’s going on in SAR in one of the three areas, but it actually allows us to accelerate past everybody in all three categories.”
Backes said the aim is to deliver SAR data to end users in under 15 minutes — an ambitious benchmark that would make radar imagery far more relevant for commercial and emergency-response applications.
“To do that, you’ve got to move the data, you’ve got to secure the data, you have to process the data,” he said. “We can move the data through secure optical networks. We can process the data on quantum computers at a dramatically faster pace, and we can move a lot of data in the network.”
The quantum playbook
Quantum key distribution, or QKD, is central to this vision. It’s a method that uses quantum mechanics to share encryption keys between two parties in a way that makes any interception immediately obvious. China is now a leading nation in the development of this technology.
IonQ plans to bring its quantum encryption tech into orbit using optical intersatellite links — laser-based data pipes between satellites—and photon detectors that serve as the backbone of quantum communication.
“We’re talking about technologies that IonQ is delivering today terrestrially,” said Backes, “and we would bring those same capabilities to space and solve the three biggest problems to Earth observation that everybody on the planet is trying to solve.”
Capella has been working to integrated optical inter-satellite links with its satellites, though progress has been delayed due to production issues at Mynaric, a German laser communications provider recently acquired by Rocket Lab. Still, the plan is to use these links as platforms for secure, high-speed data transfer across a quantum-encrypted network in space.
Broader impact
The promise of unhackable communications has clear implications for national security, but it could also unlock new commercial markets for SAR. Backes believes that solving latency, security and capacity together could finally bring SAR into more widespread use beyond defense.
“The consumption of SAR has been driven heavily by military and intelligence for a long time,” he said. “This is an opportunity for us to change the foundation of synthetic aperture radar in the way it’s used on a global basis.”
De Masi echoed that view: “We can accelerate their business with quantum key distribution and keep information secure.”
IonQ, currently valued at around $8 billion, also plans to back Capella’s expansion into new sensor capabilities like signals intelligence. The combined capabilities — high-resolution radar imaging and quantum-secured data delivery — could make the company a stronger player in the satellite services market.
For Capella, this acquisition is more than a cash infusion — it’s a long-term bet on a new infrastructure model for space, Backes insisted. Under IonQ, the company will have access to public markets, he added. “This is us taking that next leap … Not every space company gets to this level. Not every space company makes it.”
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