Nokia wants to bring a 4G network on the moon online later this year

The Finnish network company Nokia wants to activate a working 4G network on the moon later this year. The network will consist of a base station and a rover, which communicate with each other via 4G. The hardware must be able to handle the extreme conditions on the moon.

Intuitive Nova-C lunar lander

The base station and rover are scheduled to join a SpaceX mission later this year, Nokia tells CNBC. This is done in a Nova-C lunar lander from Intuitive. SpaceX won’t take the hardware all the way to the moon, but the networking equipment will have its own propulsion system to complete the journey. The network will be located in Shackleton Crater on the moon’s southern side.

The 4G network will be used, among other things, for the Artemis 3 moon mission that NASA is preparing. It will put people on the moon for the first time in more than fifty years. These astronauts can then communicate with each other and with Mission Control via the 4G network. This should make it possible to control the rover remotely and livestream video from the moon.

It is unclear what technology the connection to the earth uses. A few years ago, NASA gave money to Nokia to develop 4G for the moon. This was necessary, among other things, because the equipment on the moon must be able to withstand more extreme conditions than on Earth. According to Nokia, the equipment can do that.