That’s the shared vision of NASA and Nokia, who have partnered to set up a cellular network on the Moon to help lay the building blocks for long-term human presence on other planets. A SpaceX rocket is due to launch this year — the exact date has yet to be confirmed — carrying a simple 4G network to the Moon. The 4G network unit is being built by Nokia’s Bell Labs using a range of off-the-shelf commercial components. Images of ice — transmitted back to the lander and then Earth in near real-time via the cellular network — would be a world-first. NASA selected Bell Labs as part of its Tipping Point initiative, a series of partnerships with companies to develop technologies for future missions that puts them in prime position for key roles in the future space economy.

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Persons: ” Walt Engelund, Shackleton, Engelund, Artemis —, ”, ” Thierry Klein, ” Klein Organizations: CNN, NASA, Nokia, SpaceX, Technology, Nokia’s Bell Labs, Nokia Bell Labs, Bell Labs, US Defense, Research Projects Agency, DARPA, Bell Labs Solutions Research, Nokia Bell