NASA chooses Nokia to build a mobile phone network on the moon

Nokia selected by NASA to build first ever cellular network on the Moon, the Finnish manufacturer reported. 

Nokia has announced further details after being named by NASA as a partner, deploying the first LTE/4G communications system in space and helping pave the way towards sustainable human presence on the lunar surface.

The Finnish company, via subsidiary Nokia Bell Labs, will be tasked with building and implementing an ultra-compact, low-power and space-resistant LTE solution, which is expected to be ready by the end of 2022.

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 stated. 

Nokia’s LTE network – the precursor to 5G – is ideally suited for providing wireless connectivity for any activity that astronauts need to carry out, enabling voice and video communications capabilities, telemetry and biometric data exchange, and deployment and control of robotic and sensor payloads.

"Reliable, resilient and high-capacity communications networks will be key to supporting sustainable human presence on the lunar surface," Marcus Weldon, Nokia's Chief Technology Officer and President of Nokia Bell Labs, said in the statement. 

"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," Weldon added.

Nokia’s lunar network consists of an LTE Base Station with integrated Evolved Packet Core (EPC) functionalities, LTE User Equipment, RF antennas and high-reliability operations and maintenance (O&M) control software. 

According to Nokia, 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. The fully integrated cellular network meets very stringent size, weight and power constraints of space payloads in an extremely compact form factor.

This agreement between Nokia and NASA is part of the so-called Artemis programme, which will establish a sustainable presence on the Moon by the end of the decade, as a preliminary phase before launching a future expedition to Mars.