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An ambitious project to launch the first cellular network on the moon is moving closer to reality.

Murray Hill-based Nokia Bell Labs and Intuitive Machines Inc. announced Jan. 7 completing the final integration of Nokia’s Lunar Surface Communication System into the IM-2 lander, Athena.

Nokia and Intuitive Machines plan to deploy this first lunar cellular network as part of the upcoming IM-2 mission – a 239,000-mile journey to the lunar south pole region of the moon.

The development follows months of testing and validation. Engineers from Intuitive Machines installed the LSCS “network in a box” to one of Athena’s upper carbon-composite panels. Precautions ensure the network will survive the stresses of the journey, including taking off, landing and operating on the lunar surface.

How it works | Key features and details:

• LSCS employs the same 4G/LTE cellular technology that billions of devices on Earth use. Nokia Bell Labs reconceptualized the system to meet the unique requirements of a lunar mission.
• Network engineering can handle surface connectivity between the lander and vehicles – carrying high-definition video streaming, command-and-control communications and telemetry data.
• Two device modules installed in two lunar mobility vehicles – Intuitive Machines’ Micro-Nova Hopper and Lunar Outpost’s Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP) rover – make up additional components of Nokia’s LSCS.
• Upon landing, the two vehicles are designed to deploy on the lunar surface. There, they will immediately use the Nokia device modules to establish connections to the network on Athena.
• Intuitive Machines expects to relay data from the LSCS back to Earth using its direct-to-Earth data transmission service.

Out-of-this world communication

The partners developed the effort in partnership with NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate via its Tipping Point initiative. The program aims to fund industry-developed space technologies that can foster the development of commercial space capabilities – while also benefiting future NASA missions.

“We intend to prove that cellular technologies can provide the reliable, high-capacity and efficient connectivity needed for future crewed and uncrewed missions to the Moon and eventually Mars,” said Thierry Klein, president of Bell Labs Solutions Research at Nokia. “Cellular technology has irrevocably transformed the way we communicate on Earth. There’s no reason it can’t do the same for communications on other worlds.”

A key goal of this mission is using Micro-Nova Hopper and the LSCS to test new sensor instruments. These tools can help identify and map precious resources on the moon, such as water ice.

“We believe delivering Nokia’s 4G/LTE system to the lunar surface is a transformative moment in the commercialization of space and the maturity of the lunar economy,” said Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus. “We’re taking thoughtful steps to achieve sustainability. Whether it’s Nokia connecting surface assets, or Intuitive Machines’ ability to transmit that data back to Earth and establish lunar data relay satellites, these innovations are mainstay capabilities we believe will define the Artemis generation, and they were initiated through NASA leadership.”

The IM-2 lander does not have a set launch date. Intuitive Machines says the earliest target date would come in late February from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

Related reading:

• Nokia Bell Labs, TechUnited event takes ‘NJ to the Moon’
• Nokia, Axiom Space partner on next-gen spacesuits