Finnish telecom gear vendor Nokia announced on Monday, March 10, that it had successfully delivered and validated the first cellular network on the Moon as part of the Intuitive Machines IM-2 mission to the lunar south pole region. The IM-2 mission is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative and Nokia's technology demonstration was funded in part by NASA's Tipping Point initiative.
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Validating the Moon's First Cellular Network
Nokia said it had successfully validated key aspects of the network's operation, including the transmission of operational data to Intuitive Machines’' ground station and Nokia's mission control center on Earth and the activation of multiple communication solution components.
Nokia Bell Labs' Lunar Surface Communications System (LSCS), a "network in a box" (NIB) installed on the Athena lander, powered on and established communication with both Intuitive Machines' ground station and Nokia’s mission control center in Sunnyvale, California. The system operated without interruption during a critical 25-minute power window, confirming the functionality of its base station, radio, and network core, according to Nokia.
"NIB telemetry data confirmed a successful operational "on-air" state, indicating that all its subcomponents — base station, radio and network core — were all functioning properly," Nokia said.
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Power Limitations and Extreme Cold
However, the first cellular call on the Moon could not be placed due to power limitations caused by the orientation of the Athena lander's solar panels after landing. Initially, the LSCS module aboard Intuitive Machines' Micro Nova Hopper showed signs of proper operation. But when the NIB was later activated, extreme cold had rendered the Hopper module inoperable, preventing a connection.
"We delivered and deployed the first cellular network on the Moon and we are incredibly proud of the results that we have achieved despite the very challenging circumstances. If our device modules had been functional when our network in a box was powered up, all indications tell us that we would have been able to complete the first-ever cellular call on the Moon. The successes we were able to achieve are still significant. We were able to take commercial off-the-shelf components that connect billions of people on Earth and harden them to operate on the Moon," said Thierry E Klein, President of Bell Labs Solutions Research at Nokia.
"These initial milestones demonstrate that cellular technologies have a key role to play in space exploration, and we look forward to future missions with NASA, Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost and other partners in the space industry."
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Future Implications
In collaboration with NASA and industry partners such as Intuitive Machines and Lunar Outpost, Nokia aims to further develop communication infrastructure for the Moon and Mars.
"...Nokia is shaping the way we communicate beyond the confines of Earth. This commitment will continue well beyond IM-2 as Nokia explores the possibilities for communications on the Moon and Mars and helps foster the burgeoning space economy," Nokia said.
