IonQ Inc. has landed a $54.5 million quantum computing deal with the U.S. Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), the latest in a series of federal projects.
The four-year contract, announced Friday, is expected to help the research facility advance quantum networking compatibility with its current telecommunications infrastructure; support interoperability with quantum systems and devices; and assist in the deployment of systems for various environments.
More importantly, the accord boosts IonQ’s bookings to $72.8 million so far this year, putting it on pace to equal or surpass its 2024 bookings’ guidance of between $75 million to $95 million. A month earlier, the company inked a deal with the Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security to design a first-of-its-kind, networked system for blind quantum computing.
“We are thrilled to be at a major inflection point for the company and the industry. No other publicly traded pure-play quantum computing company has nearly doubled revenue each year since going public, nor have they approached the $100M bookings mark so quickly,” IonQ Chief Executive Peter Chapman said in a statement.
“We are pleased to continue our partnership with IonQ,” Michael Hayduk, deputy director of the Air Force Research Laboratory, information directorate, said in a statement. “Working with industry partners, we can significantly advance the Department of Air Force’s efforts to integrate quantum networks into future operations, bolstering our national defense.”
Increasingly, government agencies, businesses and academia are investing in quantum computing to tackle complex, multi-billion-dollar problems in areas ranging from health care to finance and chemistry.
Since going public in 2021, IonQ has cemented its status as a frontrunner in quantum computing. The company is in its third year of significant commercial revenue growth, delivering compound annual growth rates of nearly 100% for sales (bookings) and almost 225% for recognized revenue.
In addition to government deals, IonQ has garnered global enterprises and leading academic institutions as customers. Last month, IonQ announced a multi-million-dollar extension of its contract with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to offer its world-class quantum computers via Amazon Braket, the quantum computing service of AWS.
