NASA Will Launch a 4G Mobile Network on the Moon

CNBC reported last week that NASA has selected Nokia to build the first 4G mobile network on the moon. The company’s U.S. industrial research division, Bell Labs, will provide equipment to build the lunar network, with the goal of becoming operational by 2022. Under the Artemis program, NASA plans to send astronauts to the moon by 2024 followed by a “sustainable” human presence by 2028. Humans last walked on the moon in 1972.

The extraterrestrial 4G network “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 in a press release. NASA has chosen Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, and Dynetics to develop the spacecraft that will land astronauts on the moon.

Nokia said its 4G network will allow the astronauts to carry out a number of activities including making voice and video calls, sending important data and deploying payloads. It plans to eventually launch 5G on the moon as well.

In a blog post NASA said that it had granted Nokia $14.1 million for the project.



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