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NASA has awarded Nokia Bell Labs $ 14.1 million to bring a 4G / LTE cellular network to the moon.
NASA has given Nokia and more than a dozen other companies a $ 370 million share as part of its 2020 NASA Tipping Point competition, as originally reported by Mashable. This is the fifth Tipping Point competition and one of the highlights of this latest edition was the $ 14.1 million awarded to Nokia so that the cell phone company can build a 4G cellular network on the moon.
“Inspired by terrestrial technology, Nokia proposes to implement the first LTE / 4G communications system in space,” reads a blog post on Tipping Point this year. “The system could support communications from the lunar surface at greater distances, higher speeds, and provide more reliability than current standards.”
This means that your fellow astronaut can no longer use being on the moon as an excuse to stop reading. Typical astronauts. Beyond that, this cellular network will be built in such a way that an eventual transition to 5G can occur, which we are only now seeing more available here on Earth. This 4G / LTE network will allow a more sustainable human presence on the lunar surface.
“By working with our partners in (Intuitive Machines), this innovative network will be the critical communications fabric for data transmission applications, including monitoring lunar rovers, real-time navigation over lunar geography, and transmission of high definition video ” Nokia Bell Labs Tweet on the $ 14.1 million prize readings. “The mission-critical LTE network we have developed has been specially designed to withstand the extreme temperature, radiation and vacuum conditions of space, as well as the considerable vibratory impact during launch and landing on the lunar surface.”
There is no projected launch date for this lunar 4G network at this time, but NASA has plans for additional lunar exploration beginning in 2024, as it looks to a more Mars-centric future, and it’s easy to see just how useful a one is. 4G network. it would be for that.
If you’re looking for more science, check out this story on how the Earth could be the reason the Moon is rusting, and then read up on the possible signs of life detected on Venus.
Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide creator for IGN. You can follow it on Twitter @LeBlancWes.
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