Nokia and NASA are preparing to deploy 4G in space

The US space agency has teamed up with an equipment manufacturer to install the first operational mobile phone network on Earth’s satellite. The 4G network is expected to be rolled out this year.

Call or watch Netflix from the moon? This will soon be possible thanks to Nokia. A Finnish team will create the first operational mobile phone network on the Moon for NASA as part of NASA’s permanent human base project, the US space agency.

Although the project was originally scheduled for 2022, it has been delayed somewhat. This year it should finally be deployed on the surface of the Moon. Indeed, according to US media CNN, a SpaceX rocket is due to be launched in 2024 to transport a 4G network, which will then be installed at the South Pole of our satellite.

Resistance to space conditions

“The first challenge in getting the network up and running is to have spatially appropriate cellular equipment that meets size, weight and power requirements and can be deployed without technician assistance,” Walt Engelund, deputy associate program administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Mission. This was reported by the CNN directorate. The equipment must also withstand high temperatures and extreme radiation.

The network, which must be self-configuring as it deploys on the Moon, must, among other things, provide wireless connectivity to “every activity that astronauts will have to perform, allowing communications through voice and video, telemetry and data exchange.” biometrics or the placement and maneuvering of robots,” Nokia says. In particular, the network must be connected to two traveling vehicles in search of lunar ice.

Ultimately, the system will enable communications on the lunar surface over greater distances, at higher speeds, and more reliably than current standards.

Improving the daily life of astronauts

But the 4G network will also allow astronauts to improve their daily lives on the moon. In particular, they will be able to talk on the phone with their families and access all the applications available on a smartphone from Earth.

So many important parameters for the Artemis program, which plans to send astronauts to the Moon by 2026.

“The ability to communicate on the Moon is just as important as other mission elements such as energy, drinkable water and oxygen,” said Walt Engelund.

The $14.1 million contract was won by Nokia’s US subsidiary in 2020 as part of a series of NASA advanced contracts.