Missions

IM-2: The First Cellular Network on the Moon

In March 2025, Modul8 (as a venture within Nokia) delivered and activated the first cellular network on the Moon as part of NASA’s Tipping Point initiative on Intuitive Machines’ IM‑2 mission. Despite the mission ending early due to limited available power, the network successfully validated critical operational capabilities – marking a major milestone in proving that cellular technologies can support future lunar and Mars missions.

Taking Cellular Technologies Further

At the core of this achievement is a space‑hardened 4G/LTE network unlike anything deployed on Earth. Built on nearly two decades of Bell Labs innovation, the network reimagined terrestrial cellular technology for the Moon – integrating radio, core, security, and routing into a compact, autonomous “network‑in‑a‑box.” Designed to self‑deploy, self‑configure, and self‑heal, the system included built‑in redundancy to withstand radiation and extreme lunar conditions. Combined with custom devices, antennas, and mission operations software, Modul8 delivered an end‑to‑end communications solution for the lunar surface.

The First Operational Cellular Network on the Moon!

On March 6, 2025, Modul8 (as a venture within Nokia) delivered and activated the world’s first “on air” cellular network on the Moon—marking a defining milestone in the evolution of space communications.

This achievement demonstrated that standards based cellular technologies can function in the harshest space environments—laying the foundation for sustained human and robotic operations on the Moon and beyond.

The Artemis program will return astronauts to the Moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. The long-term goal of NASA’s Artemis campaign is to establish a permanent base on the Moon and facilitate human missions to Mars. Just as astronauts will need life support, shelter and food on these missions, they will need networks to communicate with each other and go about their crucial work. Advanced high-speed, low-latency and reliable networking technologies will be needed to connect astronauts to each other and to habitats, vehicles, robots, sensors and scientific equipment.

We have partnered with Axiom Space to deliver a spacesuit-integrated communications system that will allow astronauts to communicate while they explore the lunar surface. Modul8 intends to prove that the same cellular and Wi-Fi technologies that connect billions of devices on Earth can meet the critical communications needs of these seminal missions.