Through a partnership between Vodafone, Nokia, and Audi, researchers aim to give the Moon its own mobile network.
In the project was announced at the 2018's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Here, Vodafone sets to design the lunar network, which uses equipment designed by Nokia Bell Labs. This connectivity is then meant to allow two Audi Lunar Quattro rovers to communicate wirelessly with a base station at the Autonomous Landing and Navigation Module.
Using existing satellites, mission organizer Part Time Scientists (Berlin-based group of volunteer scientists who work on special projects in collaboration) will be able to live stream scientific data and HD video content from the Moon to viewers on Earth.
The equipment involves a space-grade Ultra Compact Network, the lightest ever developed weighing less than a one kilogram, Nokia believes that it can carry 4G network to the Moon.
The plan is to launch the equipment using SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with PT Scientists leading the mission in 2019.
4G connection using 1800 MHz is chosen because it's more capable in working on harsh environment. While 5G network is much faster than 4G, but its range is considerably shorter due to using much higher frequency. And this is not a good thing in space.
As well as in business perspective, there isn't any competition for the spectrum on the Moon, so the researchers can use whatever frequency they like.
What's more, traditional analog communication systems like those used for the Apollo missions are much larger and require far more energy that modern digital communications on Earth. This makes 4G the perfect technology for the project.
"This project involves a radically innovative approach to the development of mobile network infrastructure. It is also a great example of an independent, multi-skilled team achieving an objective of immense significance through their courage, pioneering spirit and inventiveness," said Vodafone Germany CEO, Dr. Hannes Ametsreiter,
This isn’t the first time the internet has arrived to the Moon. Previously in 2014, NASA and MIT engineers brought high-speed internet to the Moon, connected to Earth via laser.
