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At the end of 2022, Nokia plans to install the first operational mobile telephone network on the Moon, as part of the NASA permanent human base project.
Hello Moon? The Finnish group Nokia will manufacture for NASA what will be the first operational mobile telephone network on the Moon, as part of the permanent human base project of the US space agency, he announced Monday. The “ultra-compact, energy-efficient and resistant to space conditions” 4G network, which will be “the very first cellular network on the Moon”, must be deployed on the surface of the Moon by the end of 2022, via the lander on which works the American company Intuitive Machines, specifies Nokia in a press release.
NASA confirmed to USA GAG that it would be the first cellular network on the Moon, where the last human footsteps dates back to 1972. The network, which must be self-configuring during its deployment on the Moon, must notably allow to ensure the wireless connection of "any activity that astronauts will have to carry out, allowing the exchange of communication by voice and video, telemetry and the exchange of biometric data, or the deployment and maneuver of robots", continues the Finnish group.
We’re over the moon to announce further details after being named by @NASA as a key partner to advance “Tipping Point” technologies for the Moon.
— Nokia (@nokia) October 19, 2020
The pioneering innovations from @BellLabs will deploy the first LTE/4G communications system in space. https://t.co/Y6SmsPzJcQ pic.twitter.com/kJVQURXLMu
A $ 14.1 million contract
The contract, worth $ 14.1 million, was won by the US subsidiary of Nokia as part of a series of cutting-edge contracts unveiled by NASA on Friday. "The system will allow communications to the surface of the Moon over greater distances, at greater speed, and more reliably than current standards," said the space agency in its press release.
Two American astronauts, including a woman, are to walk on the Moon in 2024 during the Artemis 3 mission, and NASA wants to establish a permanent base there, a prelude to a possible mission to Mars.
