The aerospace engineering industry is continuously striving for faster methods to solve and optimize engineering and research problems with a higher degree of accuracy. It is therefore relevant to investigate possibilities that are expected to accelerate computational speed, such as quantum computing. For this reason, the objective of this thesis is to investigate the feasibility of optimizing 2D determinate truss structures with a quantum algorithm run on a Gate-Based Quantum Computer (GBQC). The Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) is currently expected to be the most suitable quantum algorithm candidate for optimization problems, because of its simplicity and robustness. The most important take-away from this thesis is that it is possible to map a truss structure to QAOA format to optimize it on a GBQC. The program proves to be working on quantum virtual machines. However, it is currently not possible to obtain correct results when running on real quantum hardware due to noise.

In the Netherlands, the ministry of Security and Justice (VenJ) has the task to ensure the safety of civilians of the Netherlands by enforcing the legal order. The ministry of VenJ wants to solve issues faster and more efficiently by using satellite technology to contribute to a safer and more just Netherlands. The ministry of VenJ asked the Delft University of Technology to perform a feasibility study and design a National Safety System (NSS). Therefore, the mission need statement of this project is to ensure the safety and security of the Netherlands by preforming the use of: an identification and tracking system (ITS) to track specific objects marked by the Ministryl. A fire and smoke detection system that uses earth observation techniques and is able to perform chemical analysis of gas and smoke clouds. Chemical analysis of the smoke clouds is performed in order to identify the presence of toxic substances. This allows populated areas to be evacuated in case the toxic clouds reach these areas. For target tracking the ministry currently uses beacons that emit radio waves to track or follow targets. This requires a lot of manpower and is easily detected, therefore a more efficient way of ensuring the safety of the citizens of the Netherlands has to be designed...