IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) appointed Dr. Eric Ball and Timothy Baxter to its board of directors to support the company’s next phases of growth in quantum computing.

The appointments aim to bolster IonQ’s transition toward rapid scalability in quantum manufacturing and the integration of its full-stack platform components.

Board Additions

IonQ Chairman and CEO Niccolo de Masi stated that the company is making a leap to rapid scalability in quantum computing manufacturing while integrating all components of its unique quantum platform.

De Masi noted that as the leading quantum merchant supplier, IonQ has significant responsibilities and expects to make advances due to its pioneering vertical integration. He added that Ball and Baxter bring complementary insights and firsthand expertise to the board and leadership team.

Dr. Eric Ball

Dr. Eric Ball brings nearly 40 years of experience in senior financial roles at public companies, including AT&T, Cisco, and Flextronics. He served as Senior Vice President and Treasurer at Oracle for 10 years, where he arranged $52 billion of financing and served on M&A teams for over 100 acquisitions.

Ball holds a PhD in Management Economics, has taught economics at three universities, authored two books, and serves on multiple corporate and non-profit boards.

Timothy Baxter

Timothy Baxter served as Chairman of the SkyWater Technology Board of Directors until the company’s recently completed acquisition by IonQ. He has over 40 years of experience leading major technology companies, including senior management roles at AT&T, Sony, and Samsung, where he rose to CEO of Samsung North America.

Baxter helped launch next-generation technologies including 5G, HDTV, and Blu-ray. He currently serves on several private and publicly traded boards.

Company Context

IonQ describes itself as the world’s leading full-stack quantum platform and foundry, delivering integrated solutions across computing, networking, sensing, and security. Its newest generation of systems, the IonQ Tempo, follows earlier systems that helped customers such as Amazon Web Services, AstraZeneca, and NVIDIA achieve a 20x performance increase over previous quantum solutions.

In 2025, IonQ achieved 99.99% two-qubit gate fidelity, setting a world record in quantum computing performance. The company operates across North America, Latin America, EMEA, and APAC, with services available through major cloud providers since 2021.

Skyloom Global, LLC, an IonQ (NYSE: IONQ) subsidiary, has reached 84 on-orbit installations of its optical communication terminals (OCTs). This milestone follows the July 16, 2026 deployment of dozens of additional terminals aboard York Space Systems satellites.

The launch occurred aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. These terminals support the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA). The deployment builds upon previous OCT installations launched during the agency’s first Tranche 1 mission in September 2025.

Operational Footprint

The latest installation brings the total number of Skyloom OCTs on orbit to 84. This accumulation represents one of the largest operational lasercomm payload footprints in low-Earth orbit. The terminals provide secure, high-performance communications capabilities for the space-based architecture.

Jordan Shapiro, President of Quantum Platform at IonQ, stated that the milestone reflects years of focused industrialization. He noted that as space networking evolves toward higher-throughput optical architectures, these proven OCTs provide the backbone for resilient, data-rich mesh networks.

Deployment Timeline

This is the second deployment of space vehicles equipped with OCTs and the third deployment of Transport Layer Tranche 1 space vehicles overall. SDA moves closer to completion of the Tranche 1 PWSA Transport Layer constellation with this launch. These spacecraft are designed to provide high-throughput, low-latency communications essential to national defense.

Skyloom specializes in developing space-based optical technology. The successful integration with York Space Systems satellites marks a significant step toward the full realization of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.