Networking technology company AiRanaculus has secured a US$5 million contract from NASA to further develop communications technologies designed for future lunar and cislunar missions.
The award, announced on 25 June under NASA’s Civilian Commercialization Readiness Pilot Program (CCRPP), will support the advancement of the company’s CLAIRE and INSPiRE platforms over a 24-month development programme.
Advancing Lunar Communications
AiRanaculus will work with NASA’s Ames Research Center and several industry partners to enhance the two networking technologies for use in lunar and space communications networks.
The project includes collaboration with NVIDIA, Nokia Federal Solutions, Dell Technologies, Curtiss-Wright, Supermicro and Radisys.
According to the company, the technologies are intended to improve the flexibility and resilience of communications linking lunar surface operations, spacecraft in lunar orbit and broader cislunar infrastructure.
Technology Demonstrations
The CCRPP programme aims to increase the technology readiness level (TRL) of the CLAIRE and INSPiRE systems through integrated testing and future spaceflight demonstrations conducted in partnership with NASA Ames.
The project also complements NASA’s broader efforts to establish communications infrastructure for future lunar exploration, including Nokia’s programme to deploy the first cellular communications network on the Moon.
Company Statement
AiRanaculus founder and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Apurva Mody said the technologies are designed to support mission-critical communications in demanding environments.
“From resilient defense communications and interference-aware 5G systems to autonomous space networking, CLAIRE and INSPiRE represent the next evolution of intelligent communications infrastructure where reliability is mission critical, whether on Earth or beyond.”
