Ten teams of graduate students and early-career researchers gathered at the University of Warwick for the fifth UK Quantum Hackathon, organized by the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC), to test whether current quantum computers can solve practical industry problems. Over three days, participants worked alongside industry mentors and technology experts from IBM and Amazon Web Services BraKet, with just two days to explore each use case, build a model solution, and generate results on quantum emulators and physical processors.
One of the most closely watched challenges came from Nexorion Spacetech, a start-up formed in 2025 that develops hybrid quantum–classical solutions for positioning and deploying individual satellites within larger constellations. Commercial operators use scheduling software to decide which satellite should perform each imaging task, weighing factors such as the urgency of a request — capturing the leading edge of a wildfire, for example, takes priority over routine crop-health observations — against each satellite's location and trajectory. «This is a hard combinatorial problem,» said co-founder Utsav Talekar. «Exact solvers cannot return answers within the available planning window for large fleets containing dozens of satellites, so operators must rely on approximations that provide a workable solution rather than the best one.»
Nexorion asked its team to devise a quantum algorithm that would generate a useful starting point, or «warm start,» for a classical optimization program, and to compare its performance with a classical equivalent. Running on IBM Quantum's Heron device, the quantum algorithm performed as well as the exact solver, though the team could not beat the classical solution at the problem size achievable in the hackathon, which was limited to eight satellites. «What was really important was the way that they improved the quantum circuit to achieve a better outcome,» said co-founder Thien Bui. «They really engaged with the larger scale problem, not just what can be achieved in two days.»
The team also examined the wider impact of improved satellite scheduling. More timely imaging could help emergency responders receive information about natural disasters or extreme weather as events unfold, allowing them to target resources and issue early warnings to affected communities. But the hackers also recognized public concerns that coordinated satellite imaging could be used for surveillance, suggesting that acceptable-use policies and clear regulation should be established from the outset. «It was clear that they had really thought about the broader implications of their use case,» said Natasha Oughton, who leads the NQCC's initiative for responsible and ethical quantum computing.
For Nexorion, the event provided valuable input into its early-stage applications technology and new connections with hardware providers and the NQCC. The company's long-term goal is a hybrid quantum solution for coordinating a satellite imaging system that could guide future landings on the Moon or Mars. «We have been selected by the European Space Agency to validate the concept of using hybrid quantum computing for these landing systems, which need real-time feedback to guarantee the safety of the spacecraft and the astronauts,» Talekar said. «It will be a long journey, but being part of the hackathon has given us a real boost.»
Other use cases reflected the event's emphasis on near-term applications with tangible public benefit. Applied Quantum Computing, a company with particular expertise in healthcare, challenged its team to test quantum machine learning for predicting the onset of brain seizures from electrical activity recorded by an EEG. The ten problems selected for this year's event were chosen to nurture business growth while generating benefits for people and communities, according to the organizers.
Daisy Shearer, who leads the NQCC's outreach and education activities and served as the hackathon's primary organizer, said industry mentors provide domain knowledge and context for each use case, while NQCC applications engineers and technology providers support the teams. Now an annual highlight for the UK's quantum community, the event offers an immersive learning experience that tests the capabilities of current quantum computers while hinting at the prospects for their future deployment.