---
title: "The Moon Will Soon Have Its Own Mobile Network"
description: "Starting in 2019, the Moon's mobile network will improve communication between people on Earth and lunar rovers or astronauts."
date: "2018-02-27"
modified: "2018-02-27"
authors:
  - name: "Alexandra Ossola"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/alexo.md"
url: "https://futurism.com/moon-mobile-ultra-compact-network"
categories:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Moon"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "astronauts"
  - "communication"
  - "internet"
  - "moon"
---

# The Moon Will Soon Have Its Own Mobile Network

![Moon's mobile network](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/moon-lte.png>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA/Futurism\</em\>*

Your smartphone might not connect when you're on the subway, or in rural areas, or in another country.

But if you're an astronaut, well, your phone will soon work on the Moon.

Telecommunications companies Vodafone Germany and Nokia, along with German car company Audi and Germany-based scientists and engineers of PTScientists, will partner to create a device that will offer astronauts 4G internet, the group announced Tuesday. This device will only weigh about 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds).

https://youtu.be/7G1qfrojtgA

The speeds at which astronauts can surf the web might not be as fast as they could via wi-fi (or as fast as they could on Earth), but the Moon's mobile network will allow them to stay connected over greater distances. It will allow two rovers already on the Moon to communicate directly with Earth during a jaunt on the lunar surface, *[Live Science](<https://www.livescience.com/61874-moon-to-get-mobile-network.html>)*[ reports](<https://www.livescience.com/61874-moon-to-get-mobile-network.html>).

The group plans to launch the device to the Moon in 2019 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

"This project involves a radically innovative approach to the development of mobile network infrastructure," Vodafone Germany Chief Executive Hannes Ametsreiter [said in a statement](<https://www.nokia.com/en_int/news/releases/2018/02/27/nokia-is-selected-by-vodafone-to-be-its-technology-partner-for-mission-to-the-moon-project>).

This isn't the first time the internet has come to the Moon, however - in 2014, MIT engineers [brought high-speed internet](<https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/you-can-now-get-high-speed-internet-moon-180951614/>) to the Moon, connected to Earth via laser.

### Author social links  
[Facebook](<https://www.facebook.com/alexandraossola/?fref=ts>)  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/ossolalex>)

## More

- [Scientists Propose Building “Wall of Death” on the Moon](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-propose-building-wall-of-death-moon.md>)
- [Welcome to the Age of 5G. No One Can Agree On Whether That’s A Good Thing.](<https://futurism.com/5g-new-standalone-telecommunication-standard.md>)
- [Here’s Where You Can Apply to Be a NASA Moon Astronaut](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/apply-nasa-moon-astronaut.md>)
- [NASA Says It’s a Priority to Investigate Strange Domes on the Moon](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-priority-investigate-domes-moon.md>)
- [NASA Building Huge Underwater Moon Replica](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-building-underwater-moon-replica.md>)
- [Asteroid Flying by Earth Is so Big It Has Its Own Moon](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/asteroid-flying-earth-moon.md>)
- [NASA Wants Its Deep Space Gateway Habitat To Orbit The Moon By 2024](<https://futurism.com/nasa-deep-space-gateway-2024.md>)
- [SpaceX Files Trademark Documents for its Global Internet Network](<https://futurism.com/spacex-files-trademark-documents-for-its-global-internet-network.md>)