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Starling fault-tolerant roadmap
Courtesy of IBM · Press kit, editorial use (opens newsroom.ibm.com)

Starling fault-tolerant roadmap

by IBMUS

ProtoStage 2 of 5

Building Kookaburra, the first error-corrected module, in 2026. Starling is targeted for 2029.

Updated 10 Jun 2025Checked 25 Sep0 updates this week

Milestones

Next · Kookaburra: first error-corrected memory plus logic module
  1. Eagle, 127 qubitsNov 2021Complete.
  2. Osprey, 433 qubitsNov 2022Complete.
  3. Condor (1,121 qubits), Heron and System TwoDec 2023Complete.
  4. Starling roadmap published10 Jun 2025Complete.
  5. Loon: error-correction test chip with long-range couplers12 Nov 2025Complete.
  6. Kookaburra: first error-corrected memory plus logic moduleTarget 2026Current milestone.
  7. Cockatoo: entangle two modules with l-couplersTarget 2027Not yet reached.
  8. Starling: 200 logical qubits, 100M gatesTarget 2029Not yet reached.
  9. Blue Jay: 2,000 logical qubits, 1B gatesTarget 2033Not yet reached.

Most important updates

  • 10 Jun 2025
  • 27 Mar 2024
  • 4 Dec 2023
  • 14 Jun 2023
  • 16 Nov 2021

Upcoming

  1. 2026Kookaburra: first error-corrected memory plus logic module (next)
  2. 11 Nov 2026IBM Quantum Developer Conference 2026, Chicago
  3. Dec 2026Verified quantum advantage claims by IBM partners
  4. 2027Cockatoo: entangle two modules with l-couplers
  5. 2029Starling: 200 logical qubits, 100M gates
  6. 2033Blue Jay: 2,000 logical qubits, 1B gates

Current obstacles

  • Fabricating long-range wiringLong-range couplers must cross other wiring in multilayer chips without adding noise that kills the code's advantage.
  • Decoder speedDecoding this code is harder than a surface code and must finish in about a microsecond per round.

Physics limits

  • Qubits work only near 10 millikelvinSuperconducting qubits must sit about 100 times colder than deep space. Every control wire leaks in heat, and the coldest stage of a dilution fridge has only microwatts of cooling, which caps wiring per fridge.
  • Error correction costs many qubitsPhysical qubits err roughly once per thousand operations; useful algorithms need about one error per billion or better. Closing that gap takes tens to hundreds of physical qubits for each logical qubit.
  • Decoding must keep pace with errorsError checks arrive about every microsecond. Classical decoders must work out corrections faster than new errors arrive, or the backlog grows until the computation fails.

How it works

4 parts
Inside an IBM Quantum System One, not Starling: each gold stage is colder than the one above, down to about 10 mK where the chip sits
Inside an IBM Quantum System One, not Starling: each gold stage is colder than the one above, down to about 10 mK where the chip sitsPhoto: OJB Quantum · CC BY 4.0 (opens commons.wikimedia.org)
Qubit

Superconducting circuits at 10 mK

Each qubit is a tiny metal circuit, super-cold in a fridge and controlled by microwave pulses.

Memory

qLDPC quantum memory

Logical qubits are stored in a 'gross code', where each check links 6 qubits, some far apart. It needs roughly 10× fewer qubits than the usual surface code.

Logic

Logical processing units

Attached units run operations on the stored logical qubits. 'Magic-state factories' add what's needed for any computation.

Modules

Linking modules

Short links (l-couplers) join neighbouring chips, so modules tile into bigger systems instead of one huge chip.

Spec sheet

SpecStarling fault-tolerant roadmap
Starling logical qubits (target)200R (reported)
Starling logical gates (target)100 millionR (reported)
Error-correcting codeBivariate bicycle [[144,12,12]]R (reported)
Physical per 12 logical qubits288R (reported)
Nighthawk qubits120R (reported)
Nighthawk tunable couplers218R (reported)
Nighthawk two-qubit gates per circuitUp to 5,000R (reported)

R reported by the company

Papers & demos

3 items
  1. Jun 2025paper
    Tour de gross: a modular quantum computer based on bivariate bicycle codes (opens arxiv.org)Detailed blueprint for Starling.
  2. Mar 2024paper
    High-threshold and low-overhead fault-tolerant quantum memory (opens nature.com)Introduced the gross code, the basis of IBM's error-correction roadmap.
  3. Jun 2023paper
    Evidence for the utility of quantum computing before fault tolerance (opens nature.com)127-qubit Eagle simulated a physics problem beyond brute-force classical methods.

Update log

5 updates

Tue 10 Jun 2025

  • Major: PressOther

Wed 27 Mar 2024

  • Major: PaperResearch

Mon 4 Dec 2023

  • Major: PressHardware

Wed 14 Jun 2023

  • Major: PaperResearch

Tue 16 Nov 2021

  • Minor: PressHardware

About IBM

The team behind Starling fault-tolerant roadmap

IBM

Superconducting chips, error correction, Qiskit

IBM has run quantum computers on the cloud since 2016 and runs the largest fleet. It aims for Starling, an error-corrected machine with 200 logical qubits, by 2029. Its Qiskit software is the most used quantum toolkit.

  • Unveiled Nighthawk (120 qubits) and Loon (error-correction test chip) in November 2025.
  • Expects partners to show verified quantum advantage by the end of 2026.
  • Committed more than $10B to quantum computing in June 2026.

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