As Nokia’s futurist in residence, I have spent a lot of time exploring the intersections of technology and human potential. Few frontiers capture my imagination quite like space, not as a distant dream, but as an imminent reality that will fundamentally reshape how we live, work, and connect. We stand at an inflection point where the space economy is transitioning from government-funded spectacle to commercial necessity, and Nokia is uniquely positioned to help power this transformation.
The New Space Economy: More Than Rockets and Astronauts
When most people think about space, they envision dramatic rocket launches and astronauts floating in zero gravity. But the real space revolution is happening much closer to home. The global space economy is projected to reach $1.8 trillion by 2035, up from $630 billion in 2023. This goes beyond launching satellites and is about creating a vast interconnected network that touches every aspect of our digital lives.
From providing connectivity in remote Earth regions using low-Earth orbit satellites to deploying actual cellular networks on the Moon, Nokia is applying its terrestrial network expertise to extraterrestrial challenges. As Thierry Klein, President of Nokia Bell Labs Solutions Research, told me recently, “We recently operated the first cellular network on the Moon. The same technologies we use to connect billions of people on Earth can be adapted for space.”
This achievement represents more than a technological milestone; it validates a fundamental principle that will help drive the space economy forward. The most successful space ventures won’t reinvent everything from scratch; they’ll intelligently adapt proven terrestrial technologies for the unique challenges of space.
Mining the Moon, Monitoring the Earth
Mining the moon for water, helium-3, and rare earth elements could become a multibillion-dollar industry in the near future, but the real near-term value lies in how space-based systems enhance life on Earth. Consider this: every time you use GPS navigation, check weather forecasts, or stream content via satellite, you’re participating in the space economy. Nokia’s vision extends this integration exponentially.
The implications are vast. These space-based systems will power everything from real-time communications for astronauts to massive data transfers via optical ‘superhighways’—laser-based links that could carry vast amounts of information between Earth, the Moon, and eventually Mars. Nokia is developing technologies for immersive video transmission over satellite links, working with the European Space Agency on ways to stream high-resolution, 360-degree video in real time, even over constrained bandwidth.
What fascinates me most is the sheer scope of what this unlocks, from laying the foundations for a lunar economy to enabling deeper space exploration. The idea of robots mining the Moon’s surface sounds like science fiction, but it’s becoming a reality. I’m especially drawn to how connecting space could help us here on Earth: using satellite constellations to monitor our planet’s health, detect deforestation in real time, predict extreme weather, or track environmental changes with unmatched accuracy. These networks could become a kind of planetary nervous system.
To get a sense of public sentiment on this topic, I ran a LinkedIn poll asking which space opportunity people found most exciting, from satellite internet and lunar mining to space-based solar power and orbital data centers. Initial results show that people are particularly excited about solar-power from space and global satellite internet. https://www.linkedin.com/services/page/b682423078b5846457/
The Human Drive to Explore
As astronaut Tim Peake eloquently explained to me recently, there’s something fundamental about humanity’s drive to explore that goes beyond economics. We have this innate desire to explore. We want to send probes onto the planet Mars. We want to go out and explore the moons of Jupiter and Saturn and to think about could there be life? Small microbial bacterial, but within our own solar system, for example, in the liquid oceans on Europa, or on Enceladus.
This exploration imperative creates a virtuous cycle. Space gives us information, ultimately. More than 50% of our data on climate is coming from space. It gives us the ability to communicate, to navigate and to operate in our society at the moment. The scientific insights we gain from studying other worlds help us understand our own planet better, while the technologies we develop for space exploration inevitably find applications that improve life on Earth.
Building the Infrastructure of Tomorrow
The most exciting aspect of Nokia’s space initiatives is the vision of permanent infrastructure beyond Earth. As Thierry Klein outlined in our conversation, the goal isn’t merely to plant flags and leave footprints, but to establish a persistent presence. “Eventually, as we build out a lunar economy and as we go back to the same area and we build out a colony, we can imagine a service provider that will be there permanently,” he explained. “So that anybody that will go to that region, to that colony, will just be able to connect to a network the way you would do when you travel on Earth.”
This infrastructure mindset is crucial. Space exploration has stagnated for decades. Today, commercial capabilities are quickly outpacing those of governments. The key insight is that sustainable space development requires the same kinds of robust, standardized systems that enabled the internet revolution on Earth.
Nokia’s approach embodies this philosophy. Rather than creating proprietary, space-specific solutions, it adapts proven, standards-based cellular technologies for space environments. This means future lunar bases won’t need specialized communication systems—they’ll use familiar protocols that can seamlessly integrate with Earth-based networks.
New Frontiers: Solar Farms and Data Centers in Space
Beyond lunar networks, the space economy is expanding into revolutionary new territories that could transform how we generate and process data. China is constructing a one-kilometer-wide solar farm for launch into space. This celestial power station, positioned in geostationary orbit, would continuously harvest solar energy and beam it to Earth via microwave transmission, potentially generating as much energy annually as all extractable oil on our planet.
Equally exciting is the emergence of space-based data centers. Companies like Lonestar Data Holdings have already launched prototype storage devices to the Moon, while Axiom Space plans to deploy computing nodes aboard the International Space Station. These orbital facilities solve multiple terrestrial challenges simultaneously: they eliminate land use conflicts, access unlimited solar power, and achieve natural cooling by radiating heat directly into space.
For Nokia, these developments represent extraordinary opportunities. Their expertise in creating autonomous, self-healing networks becomes invaluable for infrastructure that must operate reliably for years without physical maintenance. Whether it’s managing data flows between Earth and orbital processing centers or coordinating power distribution from space-based solar arrays, networking technologies will be the invisible backbone enabling humanity’s expansion into the cosmos.
The Nokia Advantage
Nokia’s century-plus experience in connecting people provides unique advantages in this new frontier. Successful networks are about creating ecosystems that enable innovation and Nokia’s space initiatives apply this same principle beyond Earth’s atmosphere.
The convergence of artificial intelligence, advanced materials, and space technology creates unprecedented opportunities. AI can optimize satellite constellations in real-time, advanced materials enable lighter and more durable space infrastructure, and space-based computing could eventually handle processing tasks too resource-intensive for Earth-based systems.
Looking Forward
The space economy represents a fundamental expansion of human capability and presence. Nokia’s role in this transformation reflects its core mission: connecting people and enabling possibilities, regardless of where they are in the solar system.
Our expansion into space will profoundly change human civilization. The networks we build today, from the first cellular connection on the Moon to the optical superhighways that will link worlds, are laying the foundation for humanity’s multi-planetary future.
As we stand on the threshold of this new era, Nokia is helping to create it. The same spirit of innovation that once connected villages with telephone lines now reaches toward the stars, ready to connect worlds.
To find out more about Nokia’s space technology, click here: https://nokia.ly/4eoMz7J