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Soon, astronauts on lunar missions will have no excuse not to respond to your text messages.
NASA has awarded Nokia of America $ 14.1 million to implement a cellular network on the Moon. The damn Moon. The grant is part of $ 370 million in contracts signed under NASA’s “Tipping Point” selections, intended to promote research and development for space exploration.
Nokia’s plan is to build a 4G / LTE network and eventually transition to 5G (like the rest of us). It will be “the first LTE / 4G communications system in space,” according to NASA’s announcement.
“The system could support communications from the lunar surface at greater distances, higher speeds and provide more reliability than current standards,” the announcement also read.
To the moon! 🌕
We are excited to have been appointed by @POT as a key partner in advancing “Tipping Point” technologies for the moon, to help pave the way for sustainable human presence on the lunar surface.
So what technology can you expect to see? (1/6) pic.twitter.com/wDNwloyHdP
– Bell Labs (@BellLabs) October 15, 2020
Nokia’s research arm, Bell Labs, provided more details in a Twitter thread. The company intends for the network to support the wireless operation of lunar rovers and navigation, as well as video streaming.
The network is built to be compact and efficient, as well as “specially designed to withstand the extreme temperature, radiation and vacuum conditions of space.”
According to UPI, NASA said in a live stream of the announcement that the network would be extended to spacecraft and help develop moon-friendly technology. While there are no details on the timeline for this project to become a reality, it all supports NASA’s goal of having a lunar base on the moon by 2028, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in the broadcast. After all, how else could astronauts post their moon walks on Instagram?
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