In 1969, the United States of America put its flag on to the Moon’s soil. Now, a German space startup wants to set up a communication tower.
PTScientists, earlier known as Part Time Scientists, is working towards deploying the same cellular technology we use on earth on the lunar surface and transmit data back to the earth using Audi lunar Quattro rovers.
While the rovers themselves have the ability to transmit feed, they consume a lot of power and need to remain still while doing so. That can be fixed, as LTE data connection consumes far less power, said Robert Boehme, Chief Executive Officer of the startup in an email to BloombergQuint.
We would prefer to be able to live stream the video footage as the rovers are exploring the lunar surface.
Robert Boehme, Chief Executive Officer, PTScientists
But how will this happen? Missions to the Moon aren’t cheap.
Enter SpaceX.
The German company has secured a spot on a shared launch of a Falcon 9 – the reusable rockets belonging to Elon Musk’s SpaceX. PTScientists, just like SpaceX, aims to bring down the cost of future missions and enable greater access to space and lunar exploration. The spot is expected to open up in 2018, Boehme said.
The startup has tied up with Audi for the lunar rovers and Vodafone for the communications tower. They also have other academic partners and business customers paying them to take their payload to the Moon, he said, refusing to disclose further details.
The startup also did not divulge details regarding the funding it has received till date, and who its investors are.
(This article was written in an arrangement with Bloomberg Quint.)
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PTScientists, earlier known as Part Time Scientists, is working towards deploying the same cellular technology we use on earth on the lunar surface and transmit data back to the earth using Audi lunar Quattro rovers.
While the rovers themselves have the ability to transmit feed, they consume a lot of power and need to remain still while doing so. That can be fixed, as LTE data connection consumes far less power, said Robert Boehme, Chief Executive Officer of the startup in an email to BloombergQuint.
We would prefer to be able to live stream the video footage as the rovers are exploring the lunar surface.
Robert Boehme, Chief Executive Officer, PTScientists
But how will this happen? Missions to the Moon aren’t cheap.
Enter SpaceX.
The German company has secured a spot on a shared launch of a Falcon 9 – the reusable rockets belonging to Elon Musk’s SpaceX. PTScientists, just like SpaceX, aims to bring down the cost of future missions and enable greater access to space and lunar exploration. The spot is expected to open up in 2018, Boehme said.
The startup has tied up with Audi for the lunar rovers and Vodafone for the communications tower. They also have other academic partners and business customers paying them to take their payload to the Moon, he said, refusing to disclose further details.
The startup also did not divulge details regarding the funding it has received till date, and who its investors are.
(This article was written in an arrangement with Bloomberg Quint.)
(Love your mother tongue? This Independence Day, tell The Quint why and how you love your bhasha. You may even win a BOL t-shirt! Sing, write, perform, spew poetry – whatever you like – in your mother tongue. Send us your BOL at [email protected] or WhatsApp it to 9910181818.)