Nokia announces that it will build the first 4G network on the moon

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration plans to return to the moon in 2024, and the agency hopes to adopt simpler and more effective ways to help astronauts communicate.

To achieve this goal, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is seeking the help of telecommunications equipment manufacturer Nokia, and the price of this contract is as high as 14.1 million US dollars.

Nokia will use these funds to build the first cellular network base station on the moon to provide a 4G LTE network to help human facilities on the moon communicate with each other.

Nokia announced more details of the mission on its official website a few days ago. Nokia said that the establishment of a base station on the moon will pave the way for the sustainable development of mankind on the moon.

Nokia said that the establishment of a cellular network base station on the moon is very important to NASA’s plan to return to the moon and land on Mars.

“Nokia” by Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine is licensed under CC0 1.0

The plan also hopes to establish a sustainable human presence on the moon’s surface by 2030, and it is precisely this that network communication facilities are essential for lunar bases.

Lunar cellular network base stations not only provide communication for astronauts, but Nokia also provides vital network communication capabilities for different data transmission applications.

Nokia said the task includes various important command and control systems, remote control of the lunar rover, real-time navigation system, and high-definition video streaming system.

The company said its solution is to build an ultra-compact, low-power, and space-reinforced 4G LTE network, which is expected to be deployed on the moon in 2022.

Of course, Nokia is mainly responsible for the communications and network parts. The company will cooperate with a private spacecraft design company in Texas to launch the equipment to the moon.

Currently, 5G networks have begun commercial use, but the cellular network base stations established by Nokia on the moon mainly provide 4G LTE network connections instead of 5G high-speed connections.

Nokia also explained this. Nokia said that the 4G LTE network is a proven and mature network communication technology.

This kind of network technology is mature and reliable, easy to deploy, and expandable, and it can be transformed and upgraded into a communication base station supporting the 5G network in the future.

Establishing base stations on the surface of the moon has to deal with extremely harsh environments. Therefore, cellular network equipment has various strict restrictions in terms of shape, weight, and power.

Via: CNN