EQUS has developed technologies that seem straight out of sci-fi: lasers that are currently used in space to measure the world’s water reserves with unprecedented accuracy.

The technology, called a Laser Ranging Interferometer, was inspired by asking questions like: how quiet can we make lasers? How sensitive can you get, in terms of detecting and translating a very low-power laser signal?

It will enable the ability to track movement of water from space – a particularly important capability as water patterns change with future climate change.

This technology has received investment through the Moon-to-Mars program, a partnership between the Australian government and NASA valued at just under $16M. It has also led to Vai Photonics, Australia’s first quantum hardware exit, valued at $40 million.