Quantum/Machines/ORCA PT-2 at NQCC
United Kingdom · operational · Photonic
ORCA PT-2 at NQCC
ORCA PT-2 at NQCC is a photonic quantum computer operated by National Quantum Computing Centre in United Kingdom. Its physical qubit count has not been published. 10 sourced specs are in the spec sheet. No benchmark figures are recorded for it yet.
Also known as PT-2
ORCA's PT-2 system installed at the NQCC in the UK, described as the first photonic quantum system in the UK public sector and operational within 36 hours of arrival. It entered a test and evaluation period; early runs included an 81-parameter binary optimisation and over 25,000 uninterrupted jobs. ORCA launched PT-2 in October 2024 as a platform for quantum-enhanced machine learning. A qubit count is not stated in the sources consulted, so none is recorded.
Spec sheet
Technical details as the builder or a paper states them, each with its own source. A blank is a fact we could not source, not a zero. Fidelity and coherence figures are in the benchmark table below.
| Spec | Value | Basis | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | PT-2 time-bin boson sampler (second generation of the ORCA PT Series) | Independent | An academic paper (Park, Stepney and D'Amico, May 2026) ran the physical PT-2 and says ORCA manufactures, sells and operates PT-2 devices; ORCA arranged access. | arxiv.orgorcacomputing.com |
| Qubit type | Photon-subtracted squeezed states in time-bin modes (boson sampler, no gate qubits) | Independent | Same paper says PT-2 samples photon-subtracted squeezed states, unlike PT-1 which used single photons, and uses a photon-number-resolving detector. | arxiv.org |
| Topology | Time-bin interferometer with fibre delay loops, run as one loop or two loops | Independent | A single input channel and single detector are used; modes are the time bins, and two loops add interferometer depth. | arxiv.org |
| Native gates | Boson sampling through a time-bin interferometer with photon-number-resolving detection | Independent | Not a gate-model machine; it is used as a sampler inside variational algorithms. | arxiv.org |
| Cooling and environment | Room-temperature design for standard data centres | Vendor reported | Family claim from the Oct 2024 launch coverage; ORCA's PT-3 page lists a rack-mounted closed-cycle 4He cooler, so a cooled component may exist, but no PT-2 source says. | thequantuminsider.com |
| Software | NVIDIA CUDA-Q | Vendor reported | Both articles repeat ORCA's launch statement that PT-2 machine learning is integrated with the CUDA-Q platform and GPUs; ORCA's own SDK is listed only on the PT-3 page. | thequantuminsider.comeenewseurope.com |
| Access and pricing | On-premises installation (PT Series sold as on-site systems); the NQCC unit is a UK national testbed | Vendor reported | ORCA says PT-1 deployed seven on-premises systems; the NQCC unit entered test and evaluation in 2025 (early runs included over 25,000 uninterrupted jobs). No price is published. | orcacomputing.comthequantuminsider.com |
| Predecessor | PT-1 | Vendor reported | PT-1 (2022) is ORCA's first-generation system per ORCA's PT Series page; PT-1 is not in quantum_systems.csv. | orcacomputing.comarxiv.org |
| Successor | PT-3 | Vendor reported | ORCA's PT Series page (fetched Oct 2026) markets PT-3 as the 2026 generation, rated 128 qumodes and 6 kW; those figures are for PT-3 only. | orcacomputing.com |
| Roadmap | PT-3 in 2026, then a roadmap to universal fault-tolerant computing from 2027 | Vendor reported | As listed on ORCA's PT Series page fetched 9 Oct 2026. | orcacomputing.com |
Timeline
- 2024-10-29: Announced
- 2025-06: First operational
- 2025-06-11: Status checked: operational
More from National Quantum Computing Centre
- Oxford Ionics QUARTET (operational)
- Infleqtion Sqale at NQCC (operational, 100 qubits)
- Quantum Motion at NQCC (operational)
- Rigetti 24-Qubit Testbed at NQCC (operational, 24 qubits)
- Aegiq ARTEMIS at NQCC (operational)
- QuEra Testbed at NQCC (under construction)
Comparable photonic machines
Closest in physical qubit count within the same technology. Counts of different qubit types are not interchangeable across technologies.
| Machine | Operator | Qubits | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lucy | CEA | 12 | operational |
| Xanadu Aurora | Xanadu | 12 | operational |
| Jiuzhang 4.0 | USTC | - | operational |
| Aegiq ARTEMIS at NQCC | National Quantum Computing Centre | - | operational |
| Quandela Belenos | Quandela | 12 | operational |
| Quandela Canopus | Quandela | - | planned |