Page 22 - SAMENA Trends - March-April 2025

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Aerospace Technologies… introduces technologies and expertise. bed and make the equipment and infrastructure available to carry
This effort will advance the development and deployment of quan- out various projects, based on the needs of the technology innova-
tum-secure solutions and foster a robust global network.” Jeffrey tion ecosystem. Our ambition is to accelerate quantum technology
Maddox, president at Nokia in Canada, said: “As the world increas- in Quebec and help the industry develop leading-edge products to
ingly depends on digital infrastructure, the need for advanced cryp- transform the province into a true global leader in quantum com-
tographic protection has never been more critical. By partnering munication.” Lisa Napolitano, Vice President of Space at Honey-
with Numana and… Honeywell Aerospace Technologies and oth- well Aerospace Technologies, said: “Honeywell Aerospace Tech-
ers, we can deploy our combined expertise to enable future-proof nologies welcomes the opportunity to join forces with Nokia and
networks to help organisations, enterprises, and service providers Numana to advance quantum-safe communications. Our quantum
build a secure and resilient digital future.” François Borrelli, presi- encryption technology will play a critical role in securing satellite
dent and chief executive at Numana, said: “Numana will oversee networks and improving the integrity of data transmitted from
the deployment, operation, and ongoing development of the test- space to earth.”

Nokia and Intuitive Machines Deliver First Cellular Network to the Moon;

Achieve Some Key Mission Objectives

Nokia announced it successfully delivered
the first cellular network to the Moon as part
of the Intuitive Machines IM-2 mission to
the lunar south pole region. Nokia success-
fully validated key aspects of the network’s
operation, including the transmission of op-
erational data to Intuitive Machines’ ground
station and Nokia’s mission control center
on Earth and the activation of multiple com-
munication solution components. The IM-2
mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Lu-
nar Payload Services initiative and Nokia’s
technology demonstration was funded
in part by NASA’s Tipping Point initiative.
Nokia was unable to place the first cellu- NIB ran without any service interruption for that we would have been able to complete
lar call on the Moon because of significant the entire 25-minute power window. Right the first-ever cellular call on the Moon. The
power limitations due to the orientation of after landing, telemetry data showed that successes we were able to achieve are still
the Athena lander’s solar panels after land- the LSCS device module on board Intuitive significant. We were able to take commer-
ing. However, Nokia Bell Labs’ Lunar Sur- Machines’ Micro Nova Hopper was drawing cial off-the-shelf components that connect
face Communications System (LSCS) was power consistent with the device module billions of people on Earth and harden
engineered for optimized power consump- being operational and functioning proper- them to operate on the Moon. These initial
tion, and in a 25-minute window in which it ly; this is an indication that it was ready to milestones demonstrate that cellular tech-
was able to receive power, the LSCS suc- receive a connection. Unfortunately, when nologies have a key role to play in space
cessfully completed multiple tests. These the NIB was activated several hours lat- exploration, and we look forward to future
achievements serve as key steps toward er, the Hopper module’s temperature had missions with NASA, Intuitive Machines, Lu-
proving cellular technologies meet the dropped well below operational range due nar Outpost and other partners in the space
mission-critical communications needs of to power constraints and the extreme con- industry.” Nokia and Nokia Bell Labs have
lunar exploration and beyond. The LSCS’s ditions in Athena’s crater landing site, and a always maintained a strong commitment to
“network in a box” (NIB) installed on Athe- connection between the device module and science, resulting in some of the greatest
na successfully powered on and received the NIB could no longer be established. “In innovations and discoveries known to hu-
telecommands from and issued respons- space exploration there are big successes mankind. By working with NASA and part-
es to the Nokia mission control center in and small successes,” said Thierry E. Klein, nering with innovative companies like Intu-
Sunnyvale, California. Nokia’s operations President of Bell Labs Solutions Research itive Machines and Lunar Outpost, Nokia is
and management software on Athena also at Nokia. “We delivered and deployed the shaping the way we communicate beyond
started up and connected to Intuitive Ma- first cellular network on the Moon and we the confines of Earth. This commitment
chines’ ground station. NIB telemetry data are incredibly proud of the results that we will continue well beyond IM-2 as Nokia ex-
confirmed a successful operational “on- have achieved despite the very challeng- plores the possibilities for communications
air” state, indicating that all its subcompo- ing circumstances. If our device modules on the Moon and Mars and helps foster the
nents — base station, radio and network had been functional when our network in a burgeoning space economy.
core — were all functioning properly. The box was powered up, all indications tell us

22 MARCH-APRIL 2025