Later this year, Nokia is getting ready to launch a 4G mobile network on the moon, with the aim of improving lunar explorations and eventually facilitating human habitation on the celestial body.
At the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona earlier this month, Luis Maestro Ruiz De Temino, Nokia’s principal engineer, informed journalists that the Finnish telecom company intends to launch the network on a SpaceX rocket in the coming months.
An antenna-equipped base station, stored within a Nova-C lunar lander created by U.S. space company Intuitive Machines, along with a solar-powered rover, will power the network.
The lander and the rover will establish an LTE connection between them, while the infrastructure is set to land on the Shackleton crater, located on the southern limb of the moon. According to Nokia, the technology is built to endure the harsh conditions of space.
Nokia stated that the network will be utilized in Nasa’s Artemis 1 mission, which plans to send astronauts to the moon’s surface for the first time since 1972. The objective is to demonstrate that earthbound networks can satisfy the communication requirements for future space expeditions. The network will enable astronauts to communicate with each other, mission control, remotely control the rover, and transmit real-time video and telemetry data to Earth.
Maestro Ruiz De Temino stated that the lander will be launched using a SpaceX rocket, and clarified that the rocket won’t transport the lander all the way to the moon’s surface, as it has its own propulsion system to complete the rest of the journey.
Moor Insights & Strategy’s principal analyst, Anshel Sag, remarked that 2023 seemed to be an “ambitious target” for Nokia’s equipment launch. Sag commented in an email to CNBC that if the hardware is ready and verified, there is a reasonable chance they could launch in 2023, given that their preferred launch partner does not encounter any obstacles or delays.
According to Nokia, its lunar network will deliver essential communication capabilities for various data transmission applications, such as vital command and control functions, real-time navigation, remote control of lunar rovers, and high-definition video streaming.
Nokia’s lunar network aims to accomplish one of its objectives, which is to locate ice on the moon. Although much of the moon’s surface is presently arid, unmanned expeditions to the moon in recent times have revealed remnants of ice trapped in protected craters around the poles.
If water is located, it can be processed for drinking purposes or separated into hydrogen and oxygen for utilization as rocket fuel. It can also be split to produce breathable oxygen for astronauts.
If humans are ever going to reside on the moon, we will require more than just internet connectivity. Rolls-Royce, a renowned engineering firm, is working on a nuclear reactor to generate power for future lunar residents and explorers.
