The crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission triumphantly arrived back on Earth on Saturday, having successfully navigated the darkness of space to orbit the Moon, going further than any man or woman before them. En route, a trove of spectacular images has been beamed back to Earth and duly released by NASA. For all but 46 minutes of the 10-day voyage, constant connectivity with mission control in Houston, Texas, meant that voices, assurances, and access to critical data were in ready supply to the astronauts.
The first unavoidable 40 minutes of radio silence occurred from the far side of the moon when the radio and laser signals that allow smooth communication between the spacecraft and Earth were blocked by the Moon itself. A further unavoidable six minutes of communications blackout happened on the spacecraft’s return journey, when radio frequencies were blocked as it entered the Earth’s upper atmosphere.
Business connectivity solutions for mission-critical workloads
In any mission critical setting, even unavoidable or planned for communication blackouts or outages can be difficult to manage. In particular, in scenarios in healthcare, industrial plants, or remote mining sites, where seconds really matter, maintaining 100% availability of enterprise network solutions is non-negotiable. Fortunately, for businesses on Earth, you don’t need NASA’s Deep Space Network to stay connected, but you do need resilient business connectivity solutions that support:
- Zero-downtime
- High availability under peak demand and degraded conditions
- Certified data security and identity governance
- Compliant data residency and data sovereignty standards
- Scalability and flexibility for integration across operational systems.
Managed network services
To ensure business continuity, operational resilience, and confidence in high-stakes environments, imei provides a complete lifecycle service, encompassing:
- Solution design aligned to operational risk and resilience requirements
- Deployment and migration using controlled, low risk methodologies
- Ongoing support, maintenance and spares coverage
- Software assurance and proactive optimisation.
We work with leading UCaaS providers who offer a portfolio of solutions for business continuity and risk mitigation. For example, Mitel’s unified communication and collaboration solutions support a multitude of communication channels, including radio, telephony, data, and video, allowing teams to respond faster, with confidence and control. Their range covers dispatch and emergency communications, hospitality solutions, virtual care collaboration, beside terminal solutions, and alarming and alerting solutions.
Accredited and certified
imei’s status a Mitel gold partner means we’re accredited and certified in Mitel’s UCaaS solutions, allowing our managed services team to configure Mitel solutions for your high-impact scenarios.
24x7 communication from both sides of the Moon
For NASA to realise its goal of building a sustainable presence on the Moon, 24x7 communication will be essential from both sides of the Moon. While NASA focuses on finding a solution to communication blackouts in space, if you’re concerned about the resilience of your communication network back down on Earth, come and talk to the managed services team at imei. Even if you’re contending with tighter budgets and increased pressure to justify investments, our expertise in mission-critical connectivity solutions can help you make network communication black holes a thing of the past.
Overcome the challenges of communication blackspots
If uptime isn’t an option in your organisation, please get in touch to learn more about how imei can help you support business continuity in mission critical environments.
Frequently asked questions:
How does imei support mission-critical environments?
imei provides as a complete mission critical lifecycle service, from solution design to deployment and migration, support and maintenance, and software assurance and optimisation.
What organisations benefit from imei’s mission‑critical lifecycle service?
imei’s mission‑critical communications service is tailored for organisations that must maintain 100% availability, including those operating in healthcare, emergency services, government, utilities, transport, and heavy industry. It provides a gold-standard multi-tiered approach to maximise reliability, minimise disruption, and provide backup options when business continuity is a matter of life or death.
How does imei work with Mitel?
As a Mitel gold partner, imei is accredited and certified to configure Mitel’s unified communication and collaboration solutions for high-stakes environments. Mitel’s services portfolio includes solutions for business continuity and risk mitigation, dispatch and emergency communications, hospitality solutions, virtual care collaboration, beside terminal solutions, and alarming and alerting solutions.
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