NASA has awarded Modulate Space Corporation a contract to develop key elements of a 5G communications system for use on the lunar surface, with built-in Wi-Fi 6, for NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
The agency said the work will be organised into two primary areas intended to develop a scalable, standards-based communications capability designed to support future Moon Base surface operations.
The “5G System and Lunar Surface Communications Evaluation and Radio Propagation Measurements” contract is a firm-fixed-price award valued at about US$38 million. NASA said the performance period for the “5G Network-in-a-Box Development and Lab Demonstration” runs from Thursday, Oct. 1, through Jan. 31, 2028. The performance period for the “Lunar 5G and Wi-Fi Integrated Surface Network and Flight Demonstration on the Lunar Surface” runs from Monday, Nov. 30, through Dec. 31, 2028.
NASA said the demonstrations are intended to support development of hardware, firmware and software for an integrated lunar communications system, and to provide insight into system architecture and operational performance as the technology evolves for future lunar surface communications.