Nokia’s Lunar Surface Communications System is the first 4G network on the Moon. Earth’s natural satellite had 25 minutes of access to the network.
On March 6, Nokia launched the first lunar 4G network, according to WIRED. The plan was to activate a small 4G LTE network on a small area of the Moon at this time, which would enable connectivity to multiple rovers as part of the IM-2 mission, the first step towards the first manned mission to the Moon since 1972. NASA’s Artemis III will be launched in 2027, and Nokia and Axiom Space will integrate 4G LTE communications capabilities into astronauts’ spacesuits.
However, the Athena lander landed sideways and 250 meters from its intended location at the lunar south pole. Two conditions that prevented Athena from recharging. The orientation of the solar panels, the direction of the sun, and the low temperatures in the crater all joined forces to cause the signal to be so short-lived.
Nokia claims it has “delivered the first cellular network to the moon as it has “validated key aspects of the network’s operation.” John Dow, general manager of Space Communications Systems at Nokia Bell Labs, explained that within Athena he followed the Network in a Box (NIB) approach, which includes radio, base station, routing and core, all integrated into a compact system.
According to Nokia, the NIB was successfully activated and received commands and transmitted data to Intuitive Machines’ ground station on Earth. All system components operated for 25 minutes, which is how long it took to run out of energy.
The 4G LTE network used is the same as on Earth, Nokia’s Lunar Surface Communications System has been optimized for space travel, with multiple redundancies to recover from possible electronic or hardware failures. Unfortunately, the power outage was not one of the anticipated failures.
Still, the NIB 4G was created for a short lifespan. Dow explained that the NIB was not designed to survive the harsh lunar night. The IM-2 mission was planned to end after 9 days (the lunar night lasts 14 Earth days) as the equipment’s solar cells would not have enough energy to power the devices.
Nokia plans to establish permanent base stations. “Once you have robust connectivity, you can see how you can have a basic infrastructure to support all the visions people talk about,” says Dow.”As you see the scaling of travel to the lunar surface, then you’ll have inhabitants,” he added. “Ultimately, it will get to the point where you no longer have to bring the network with you, you just have to bring the device because the network’s there.”
The Axiom spacesuit will in the future be able to communicate from astronaut to lander and from astronaut to lander and astronaut using the integrated 4G LTE network. Russell Ralston, executive vice president of Extravehicular Activity at Axiom Space, compares it to the current reality on the road: “It’ll be a little like driving in your car hands-free,” he says. The suit’s microphones will be voice-activated, and the network will be able to handle multiple HD video streams in real time, not to mention telemetry and data from onboard sensors.
Michael López-Alegría, chief astronaut for Axiom Space, who spent time on the International Space Station from 2006 to 2007 and also commanded Axiom-1 in 2022, the first commercial crewed astronaut mission to the ISS, says that Artemis III astronauts are undergoing training to send high-definition videos of the Moon to more qualified people on Earth. “Now they can show a geologist on Earth [the things they’re seeing] instead of having them learn everything that a PhD knows,” says López-Alegría.“They can use it as a tool, a little bit like we do on the ISS today. I think this is a leap, and it’s 50 years later, right? So it should be.”
IM-2 was the only scheduled test of Nokia’s 4G network on the Moon. It was only partially successful, but Nokia did not say whether there would be another test now that IM-2 was abruptly terminated. Dow says the company will continue to conduct tests on Earth ahead of Artemis III.
John Dow, General Manager of Space Communications Systems at Nokia Bell Labs, explained why they opted for 4G instead of 5G. According to Dow, development for space is very time-consuming and Nokia wanted to start with a technology that had already been robustly tested. At the time, 5G was still in the early stages of adoption, and these additional capabilities were not necessary for testing. “We’re absolutely working on the evolution to 5G,”
Regarding a possible Nokia network exclusivity on the Moon, Dow says a multi-vendor environment will be flexible, largely because Nokia is using a standardized technology with interoperability.
