NASA has chosen Nokia to build the first-ever 4G mobile network on Earth’s natural satellite for $14.1 million, CNBC recently reported.
Bell Labs, Nokia’s US industrial research arm, is offering up its equipment to NASA to help build out the lunar network, aiming to launch it in late 2022.
“The solution has been specially designed to withstand the harsh conditions of the launch and lunar landing, and to operate in the extreme conditions of space,” Nokia said.
NASA, under its Artemis programme, plans to send astronauts to the moon by 2024, for the first time in 50 years, followed by a sustainable human presence by 2028.
The US space agency selected Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Dynetics, to develop the human landers that will land astronauts on the moon.
The Finnish telecommunications firm said its 4G network will allow astronauts to make voice and video calls, send important data, and deploy payloads, among other activities. It also intends to eventually launch 5G on the moon.
“The system could support lunar surface communications at greater distances, increased speeds, and provide more reliability than current standards,” NASA noted.