Extraoperable networks: Delay and power in the rise of LunaNet

This article takes us to the Moon where LunaNet, a communication network designed to support NASA’s Artemis program, is emerging to enable sustained human presence in space. My specific focus is on the LunaNet’s interoperability discourse which situates it within the technical, historical, and political trajectories of the Internet and within socio‑technical structures that shape power here on Earth. By analyzing this discourse, I argue that, when applied to outer space, the visions of interoperability are limited, overlooking what makes LunaNet distinctive—its ability to function without continuous connectivity. To foreground this point, I introduce the concept of extraoperability, a speculative framework that challenges Earth‑bound assumptions about Internet connectivity and proposes that alternative modes of relation may emerge when we network beyond our Blue Planet.