Vofafone Germany is collaborating with Audi and Nokia to set up 4G network on the moon by 2019.
According to Vodafone, the 4G network will support a mission by PTScientists in 2019, and is privately funded. The mission to the moon will launch from Cape Canaveral on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The mission will tap into Vodafone’s network expertise to set up the Moon’s first 4G network, connecting two Audi lunar quattro rovers to a base station in the Autonomous Landing and Navigation Module (ALINA).
Nokia, through Nokia Bell Labs, will create a space-grade Ultra Compact Network that will be the lightest ever developed – weighing less than one kilo, the same as a bag of sugar, said Vodafone.
The 4G network will enable the Audi lunar quattro rovers to communicate and transfer scientific data and HD video while they carefully approach and study NASA’s Apollo 17 lunar roving vehicle that was used by the last astronauts to walk on the Moon, the company revealed
Vodafone said its testing indicates that the base station should be able to broadcast 4G using the 1800 MHz frequency band and send back the first ever live HD video feed of the Moon’s surface, which will be broadcast to a global audience via a deep space link that interconnects with the PTScientists server in the Mission Control Centre in Berlin.
“This is a crucial first step for sustainable exploration of the solar system. In order for humanity to leave the cradle of Earth, we need to develop infrastructures beyond our home planet,” said Robert Böhme, CEO and Founder of PTScientists.
“With Mission to the Moon we will establish and test the first elements of a dedicated communications network on the Moon,” he added.
