Vodafone and Nokia to roll out 4G on the Moon

Vodafone and Nokia are to deploy the first 4G network on the Moon to support a mission by Berlin-based PTScientists in 2019.

PTScientists is working with Vodafone Germany and Audi to achieve the first privately-funded Moon landing and has developed a spacecraft capable of delivering two rovers - or up to 100kg of payload - to the lunar surface. It is offering companies and academic institutions ‘the opportunity to transport payload and experiments to the Moon at affordable prices’.

PTScientists’ mission to the Moon is due to launch in 2019 from Cape Canaveral on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Vodafone’s 4G network will connect two Audi lunar quattro rovers to a base station in the Autonomous Landing and Navigation Module (ALINA), PTScientists’ spacecraft built to transport and land the rovers.

Nokia, through Nokia Bell Labs, will create a space-grade Ultra Compact Network that will weigh under 1kg.