Internet on the Moon? Yes, it is possible and it may even exceed the speed you have at home. We echo information that indicates why it will be necessary to have Internet on the terrestrial satellite and what the speed will be. You will see that having Wi-Fi will be necessary for higher quality communications. This will allow for higher resolution videos in possible missions, which will significantly improve the image quality seen so far in real time.
There have already been important investments, such as the LunarLites project, which proposed how technologies such as 4G or 5G could be used on the Moon. Others, such as the Lunar Surface Propagation project, are responsible for analyzing how wireless communications systems will work.
Wi-Fi Internet on the Moon
But how fast could the Wi-Fi be there? The speed they need is 500 Mbps to be able to offer quality images in real time in 4K resolution. Of course, it has nothing to do with the images received during the Apollo 11 mission, more than 50 years ago. Precisely for this reason, to ensure that these images have 10 times more quality, they need to have a connection that allows that amount of data to be sent without problems.
Logically, it is not something simple and everything requires large investments and technological development. In addition, there are important limitations, such as deep craters. They need to use models and simulation tools to help choose the best possible place for connections to work well. There are added challenges, like the fine lunar dust.
What they are looking for is to be able to overcome these types of obstacles and establish 5G and Wi-Fi wireless networks. This is what will allow you to be able to broadcast live videos in good quality. In fact, Matt Cosby, technology director at Goonhilly Earth Station in the United Kingdom, indicates that people will not accept image qualities like they did decades ago.
Speed ​​higher than many homes
As we have mentioned, the speed they hope to achieve is 500 Mbps. This is more than enough speed to be able to broadcast in 4K. If it were much lower, cuts could appear or the image resolution would have to be reduced. It’s the same as when you watch a YouTube video, or some similar platform, and you have little coverage; You need to lower the resolution so it doesn’t cut out.
But why do we say that it will have a speed faster than many homes? If we talk about current data, in Spain, the average speed is less than 150 Mbps. However, it is clear that we can contract higher rates, whether 600 Mbps or 1 Gbps. However, it must also be added that we do not always receive that speed, either due to limitations in the connection or the devices we use.
We are talking about long-term plans for future missions to the Moon. In that time, as expected, the speed in homes will also increase. In fact, we already saw that Wi-Fi 7 was recently officially approved. New standards will emerge and operators will also offer faster rates.
