Recently, Finland’s Nokia has signed a contract with US space agency NASA to create an LTE/4G network on the moon. Nasa said it would pay the company $14.1 million to establish a constant human presence on the lunar surface. Nokia declared that its 4G network would enable astronauts to make voice and video calls, transmit data, and deploy payloads.
Nokiaˈs lunar network will be part of NASAˈs plan to return humans to the moon by 2024 and build long-term settlements there. By the end of 2022, the company should deploy an LTE/4G network. The Finnish company will partner with private spacecraft design firm Intuitive Machines to integrate the network and deliver it to the lunar surface by using SpaceX Falcon 9. Notably, the 4G network will self-configure after the deployment on the moon. In the future, it will be switched to 5G. Experts say that Nokia’s LTE network, the predecessor to 5G, is perfectly suited for wireless connectivity in space. “The network will provide critical communication capabilities for many different data-transmission applications, including vital command and control functions, remote control of lunar rovers, real-time navigation and streaming of high definition video,” Nokia said.
Ultra-compact LTE base stations and antennas with low energy consumption were created to survive extreme conditions in space. The first unmanned flight under the Artemis program is scheduled for next year. The second flight under the Artemis-2 program will take place in 2023 and the third one will occur in 2024. To implement this ambitious plan, NASA has signed contracts with 14 private companies. The total amount of the transaction amounted to $370 million.
Experts are confident that Nokia equipment will be required to ensure the operation of the lunar base whose construction is planned by the US authorities in 2028. The lunar base will be connected to the LTE/4G network that provides connectivity for most of the apps required for data transmission. "By building the first high-performance wireless network solution on the moon, Nokia Bell Labs is once again planting the flag for pioneering innovation beyond the conventional limits," Marcus Weldon, chief technology officer at Nokia and Nokia Bell Labs, pinpointed.
