The moon is getting its first mobile phone network next year to stream high-def video back to Earth. Buzz60's Sean Dowling has more. Buzz60
Access to 4G wireless networks is about to take a giant leap for mankind.
Vodafone Germany and Nokia confirmed they will create the first 4G network on the moon. The network will go live by 2019.
The communication giants are helping German-based private space company PTScientists on their mission to launch the first privately-funded moon landing.
"This is a crucial first step for sustainable exploration of the solar system," said Robert Böhme, founder and CEO of PTScientists, in a statement. "In order for humanity to leave the cradle of Earth, we need to develop infrastructures beyond our home planet."
The network will connect two Audi lunar quattro rovers to a base station in the spacecraft carrying the vehicles. The 4G service will allow the rovers to communicate and transfer data and HD video as they approach the lunar roving vehicle used during the final mission of the Apollo program in 1972.
Nokia will partner with Vodafone on the project, creating a space-grade network weighing about as much as a bag of sugar.
The mission is scheduled to launch next year from Cape Canaveral on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
While talk of visiting Mars seems to dominate the conversations on space travel, companies like PTScientists as well as NASA are still eyeing the moon as another destination.
The agency is working on a lunar outpost to help humans return to the moon by the next decade.
More: Graphic: How SpaceX plans to take another step toward the moon, Mars
More: What we learned from Elon Musk's speech about Mars, moon base
Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.
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