Moon to have 4G network by 2019
Berlin: The moon will have its first 4G cell phone network in 2019, the network builder Vadafone has said.
The German branch of the multinational telecommunication company has teamed up with Nokia to do the mission, London-headquartered Vadafone said in a statement on Tuesday.
The network is to support a private lunar rover mission by PTScientists, a private space company based in Berlin, which plans to launch a lander and two small rovers to the moon on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, Xinhua news agency reported.
The PTScientists said their team is committed to bringing down the cost of space exploration and democratising access to the moon.
The moon rover plan aims to study the lunar rover used by the Apollo astronauts during their historic landing in December 1972.
Nokia will create a space-grade Ultra Compact Network that is said to be the lightest ever developed - weighing around one kg, the same as a bag of sugar, according to the statement.
The planned network will enable PTScientists' lander to broadcast a live video from lunar surface to the audience on earth and facilitate the communication among the lander and rovers.
Under previous communication technologies used in moon exploration, such as analogue radio, transmitting data consumes considerable energy reserves and requires rovers to be stationary.
"The great thing about this... is that it saves so much power, and the less energy we use sending data, the more we have to do science!" said Robert Bohme, CEO and Founder of PTScientists.
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Regulator DGCA eases flight duty norms for pilots amid IndiGo crisis
Mumbai (PTI): Aviation watchdog DGCA on Friday eased the flight duty norms by allowing substitution of leaves with a weekly rest period amid massive operational disruptions at IndiGo, according to sources.
As per the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms, "no leave shall be substituted for weekly rest", which means that weekly rest period and leaves are to be treated separately. The clause was part of efforts to address fatigue issues among the pilots.
Citing IndiGo flight disruptions, sources told PTI that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has decided to withdraw the provision 'no leave shall be substituted for weekly rest' from the FDTL norms.
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"In view of the ongoing operational disruptions and representations received from various airlines regarding the need to ensure continuity and stability of operations, it has been considered necessary to review the said provision," DGCA said in a communication dated December 5.
The gaps in planning ahead of the implementation of the revised FDTL, the second phase of which came into force from November 1, have resulted in crew shortage at IndiGo and is one of the key reasons for the current disruptions.
#BREAKING: #DGCA relaxes a clause which debarred airlines to club leaves with weekly rest to mitigate #IndiGo crisis
— Economic Times (@EconomicTimes) December 5, 2025
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