There has been new progress in Nokia's plans to build a deployment and operation LTE/4G network on the moon.
Nandu reporter recently found on the official website of Nokia Bell Labs that Holly Rubin, the reliability leader of Nokia's lunar LTE communication project, has released a new paper on the preparations for Nokia to use the launched SpaceX rocket to take its equipment away from the earth in 2023.
In 2020, Nokia announced that its 4G device was selected by nasa to support cellular networks on the moon ahead of the 2024 Artemis lunar landing program. At the time, NASA said that if the experiment is successful, it will pave the way for the construction of 4G/LTE networks on the lunar surface, including high-definition video from astronauts to base stations, from vehicles to base stations, etc., which will support the design of future in situ resource utilization, mobility, communications, electricity and dust protection capabilities.
The network will provide critical communication capabilities for many different data transmission applications, including critical command and control functions, remote control of the lunar rover, real-time navigation, and high-definition video streaming. These communication applications are critical to the long-term existence of humans on the lunar surface.
More than a year later, the plan may have made new progress. According to an article published by Holly Rubin on April 12, Nokia has designed a number of plans to safely send components that build 4G/LTE networks to the moon. Holly Rubin said, "Before we can run a network on the moon, we need to get it there." We are redesigning the components to withstand the pressure of 239,000 miles of spaceflight. Without these measures, even the most environmentally friendly ground networks would not have survived this mission."
According to reports, Nokia's LTE space reinforcement equipment will be integrated into an intuitive machine Nova-C lander and a lunar outpost MAPP rover, the two probes will in turn carry space X Falcon 9 rockets into space. In the process, rocket launches pose two major threats to equipment: shock and vibration. These threats can invalidate welded joints, causing a significant impact on the network or causing them to stop working altogether. In addition, factors such as lunar dust, cosmic radiation and low temperatures can also affect the safety of the equipment.
As for how to overcome these challenges, Hawley Rubin explained that in addition to multiple rounds of testing of all hardware components, adjustments need to be made to the transmission and operation of the network after launch, such as moving network equipment through vacuum transport. "Coping with the vacuum will be the most critical during the operational phase of the mission."
Nokia's lunar network includes an LTE base station with integrated Evolution Group Core (EPC) capabilities, LTE user equipment, RF antennas, and high-reliability operation and maintenance (O&M) control software. The solution is specifically designed to withstand the harsh conditions of launches and moon landings, and to operate under the extreme conditions of space. Fully integrated cellular networks meet very tight size, weight and power constraints for space payloads in a very compact form factor.
In addition, Holly Rubin also revealed that the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket equipped with Nokia's 4G/LTE network components is scheduled to launch in 2023.
Written by: Nandu reporter Kong Xueshao