Finnish telecom manufacturer and service provider Nokia Corp. netted a cool $14.1 million from NASA. And in this instance, that “cool” label applies tenfold, becaus the project in question was about bringing 4G LTE to the Moon, of all places.
Not bad for some chump change, right?
At least the marketing value Nokia is deriving from this initiative will probably at the very least match, if not easily surpass that service fee NASA agreed to foot. The endeavor is being handled by Nokia’s U.S. arm, itself a member of the Artemis program which NASA previously introduced with the goal of achieving humanity’s triumphant return to the moon by 2024. In addition to sending the first woman astronaut to Earth’s largest satellite.
The Artemis program is what prompted the need for launching an LTE network on the moon happened in the first place. Seeing how the first 21st century moon landing humanity undertakes will surely have to be live-streamed in high definition. Which is where Nokia’s 4G network equipment and expertise come into play. The current plan is to begin a remote installation with a custom-built lunar hopper in about two years from now.
The late 2022 window will depend not just on Nokia’s prep work, but also on Intuitive Machines’ ability to hit their deadlines , as that is the company NASA contracted to manufacture the aforementioned spacecraft.
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