NOKIA is going to the moon with those NASA astronauts in 2024. NASA is giving Nokia some US$14 million to build out a 4G LTE cellular network on the lunar surface.

James Reuter, NASA associate administrator, confirmed that having cellular service on the moon could enable communication between lunar habitats and the astronauts out exploring its surface. “It could also provide a way for the agency to communicate with the spacecraft. With NASA funding, Nokia will look at how terrestrial technology could be modified for the lunar environment to support reliable, high-rate communications,” he said.

The contract is part of US$370 million in new Artemis funding, with much of the money going to companies like SpaceX and United Launch Alliance. In 2018 Nokia partnered with German space firm PTScientists and UK carrier Vodafone on a mission to return to the site of the historic Apollo 17 landing. But the plan to build a moon-based LTE network to send high-definition video to earth never got off the ground.