QEOPS - Quantum Earth Observation Planning System

Abstract

Even with recent advances in Quantum Computing the question about potential quantum advantage in optimization problems remains open. While this paper does not aim to prove the existence of a quantum advantage, it describes a particular use-case from spacecraft mission planning which is implemented on various quantum computers within the Quantum Mission Planning Challenges project of the German Quantum Computing Initiative at DLR. Besides the detailed problem definition and a formalization of the problem as an Integer Linear Programming problem (ILP), this paper provides a list of experiences and insights gained when trying to apply quantum computing to a real-world problem. In the end we discuss early results comparing classical solvers with quantum optimization algorithms for our particular sub problem of the general EnMAP mission planning system.