Belenos by Quandela: status and timeline

Belenos

12-qubit photonic quantum computer; 4,000x power vs. 2022 6-qubit system. Cloud accessible to researchers and commercial users.

DeployStage 4 of 5

Cloud-deployed May 2025; 1,200+ users; integrated into France's TGCC facility by end 2025.

Updated Jun 2026Checked 10 Oct0 updates this week

Milestones

Next · Belenos integrated into CEA TGCC supercomputing facility

6-qubit system unveiled2022Complete.
Belenos (12-qubit) cloud deployment beginsMay 2025Complete.
Belenos integrated into CEA TGCC supercomputing facilityTarget Dec 2025Current milestone.
Canopus (24-qubit) system plannedTarget 2026Not yet reached.
DARPA QBI Stage A plausibility phase completionTarget Dec 2026Not yet reached.
40-qubit targetTarget 2030Not yet reached.

Most important updates

Upcoming

Dec 2025Belenos integrated into CEA TGCC supercomputing facility (next)
2026Canopus (24-qubit) system planned
2026Canopus deployment
Dec 2026DARPA QBI Stage A plausibility phase completion
203040-qubit target

Current obstacles

Quantum dot uniformityFabrication variation requires post-fab tuning per qubit to match energy levels.
Photon loss in routingLong circuits accumulate loss; balance path length with qubit connectivity.

Physics limits

Loss in photonic circuitsIntegrated photonics lose signal proportional to circuit length and complexity; extending circuits to hundreds of qubits requires very low-loss materials.
Quantum dot coherence timesElectron spins in quantum dots have finite coherence; they must stay coherent long enough for gates and error correction cycles.

How it works

3 parts

Photonics

Photons encode qubits in polarization and path

Photonic circuits route and interfere photons; intrinsic spatial connectivity simplifies multi-qubit gates.

Quantum dots

Spin-mediated gates using quantum dots

Electrons in quantum dots mediate photon gates at nanosecond timescales, combining photon low-loss with spin determinism.

Cloud access

Runs at CEA supercomputing center

Accessible remotely via HPC infrastructure; integrated with classical compute for hybrid algorithms.

Spec sheet

Spec	Belenos
Belenos qubit count	12^R (reported)
Canopus target qubits	24^R (reported)
Power increase vs. 6-qubit system	4,000x^R (reported)
Cloud users as of May 2025	1,200+ across 30 countries^R (reported)
Commercial users	~25%^R (reported)

^R reported by the company

Update log

2 updates

Jun 2026

Major: DARPA selects Quandela for Stage A of Quantum Benchmarking Initiative; photonic approach enters government evaluationPressResearch

May 2025

Major: Quandela launches Belenos, a 12-qubit photonic quantum computer accessible via cloud to 1,200+ usersPressHardware

About Quandela

The team behind Belenos

Quandela

Photonic quantum computers, Belenos, Canopus

French photonic quantum computer maker. Belenos (12 qubits, deployed 2025) is accessible via cloud to 1,200+ researchers. Canopus (24 qubits) planned 2026. On track for 40+ qubits by 2030.

Belenos (12 qubits) cloud-accessible since May 2025 to 1,200+ researchers; 25% are commercial users.
Photonic qubits with spin-mediated logic via quantum dots; Spin-Optical (SPOQC) hybrid architecture.
Selected for DARPA QBI Stage A (June 2026); targets 40+ qubits by 2030.

quandela.com (opens quandela.com)Company profile →

Founded: 20179 yrs
Headquarters: France
Status: Private
Valuation: private
Raised: $72M2 rounds
Last round: Series B · $55MNov 2023
Works in: QuantumPhotonic
Coverage: 1 program · 2 updateslatest 1 Jun 2026checked 10 Oct
Partners: CEA (Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique) (opens cea.fr)DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) (opens darpa.mil)
People: Cyril Dujardin (opens quandela.com)Chief Executive OfficerPascale Senellart (opens quandela.com)Chief Scientific OfficerMichel Zecri (opens quandela.com)Vice President of Industrialization

Spec

Belenos

Belenos qubit count

12^R (reported)

Canopus target qubits

24^R (reported)

Power increase vs. 6-qubit system

4,000x^R (reported)

Cloud users as of May 2025

1,200+ across 30 countries^R (reported)

Commercial users

~25%^R (reported)