Axiom Space cooperates with Nokia’s Adapting terrestrial wireless technology to provide high-speed communications for the Artemis spacesuits developed by Axiom. On August 21, the two companies announced a partnership to develop 4G/LTE communications technologies. Lunar Surface Communication System (LSCS), for suits that Axiom is developing for NASA for use on the Artemis 3 mission before the end of 2026.

The LSCS technology consists of two main components: One is a “network in a box” that includes a base station, antennas and other systems that will be installed on the Human Landing Service vehicle that will take astronauts to the lunar surface, and the other is a user module integrated into the Axiom suits.

4G/LTE communications will increase bandwidth, as well as provide redundancy for existing channels using UHF and Wi-Fi. “From a suit standpoint, we like it because it gives us a lot more capability and a little more redundancy in communications,” Russell Ralston, Axiom Space’s vice president of extravehicular operations, said in an interview.

Integrating this technology into the suits would be seamless for the astronauts wearing them, he said, and 4G/LTE is just one option an astronaut could choose from depending on the mission requirements. However, it could provide much greater capabilities, such as the ability to stream high-resolution video from the suit’s cameras.

“From a scientific perspective, this means that all the scientists and geologists supporting NASA’s mission in real time will have a much better understanding of what the crew is seeing,” he said. “I think people will become more familiar with the mission when they can see it in such rich detail.”

The system is designed to operate two kilometers away from the lander, a requirement NASA set for the Artemis 3 mission, said Thierry Klein, head of Solutions Research at Nokia Bell Laboratories. “But we have tested the system in ground demonstrations in some configurations that go beyond that.”

Nokia will test the LSCS system for the first time on the moon aboard Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander, IM-2, which is scheduled to launch later this year. The system will provide communication between the lander and rover, developed by Lunar Outpost, and Intuitive Machines’ “chamber.”

Klein said that success on that mission is not a prerequisite for using LSCS on Axiom’s spacesuits, because of upgrades already planned for future Artemis missions. “It’s very similar but not exactly the same system,” he said. “Of course we hope the IM-2 mission is successful, but if it’s not successful, it won’t have a direct impact on Artemis.”

Nokia is considering later upgrades to LSCS to increase range, particularly for future missions where astronauts will man the lunar rover. The company is also participating in DARPA’s LunA-10 study to investigate how communications networks using the technology could support a commercial lunar economy in the next 10 to 15 years.

The work to incorporate communications technology into the Axiom suits is being funded by a recent $57.5 million order from NASA under the agency’s Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services, or xEVAS, contract. NASA selected Axiom in September 2022 to design the spacesuit for the Artemis lunar missions with an initial $228.5 million order for xEVAS.

Russell said Axiom has entered the critical design review (CDR) phase of the suit’s development, which will continue until early next year. “We’re getting to the point where the design is really solidified,” he said, noting that it’s important to now have a partnership with Nokia so the technology can be incorporated into the suits before the CDR is complete.

He said the company has completed “science projects” to answer key questions about the suit’s design. “We’ve answered all of those questions at this point, and now there’s refinement and optimization as we move into the CDR phase,” he said. “We’re making adjustments here and there.”

Axiom was one of two companies selected by NASA for xEVAS contracts in 2022, and later that year NASA assigned another company, Collins Aerospace, to work on the International Space Station spacesuit. But in June, NASA and Collins announced that the company was ending its work on the mission, effectively exiting the program.

Axiom has a small “transition” mission within the xEVAS program to study how the Artemis spacesuits could be adapted for use on the ISS. The company has begun preliminary analysis of a version of the spacesuit for the ISS, Russell said.

He said Axiom has developed a “single-suit architecture” that allows the suit to be used for Artemis or ISS missions with minimal modification. Like a different pair of shoes, “the suit can be used for almost any mission and have a unique configuration for the mission,” he said. “Other than that, very little has changed.”