The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has revealed its intentions to construct a levitating robot train on the lunar surface as it prepares to send astronauts back to the moon. The “Flexible Levitation on a Track (FLOAT)” project, which intends to create a “robotic transport system” to support future lunar activities of astroinauts visiting the moon, was described in detail by the American space agency in a blog post. NASA released a statement stating that the transport system will be essential to a sustainable lunar base’s day-to-day operations in the 2030s.
“We want to build the first lunar railway system, which will provide reliable, autonomous, and efficient payload transport on the Moon,” robotics expert Ethan Schaler of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said. “A durable, long-life robotic transport system will be critical to the daily operations of a sustainable lunar base in the 2030s,” he explained.
NASA’s original plan states that FLOAT will only be available to machines. To lessen abrasion from dust on the lunar surface, it will be made up of magnetic robots that levitate over a track made of three layers of film. These robots will be equipped with carts, which will travel at a speed of about 1.61 kilometres per hour. Roughly 100 tonnes of stuff might be transported daily to and from NASA’s planned lunar colony.
According to the space agency, FLOAT’s primary goal would be to offer transport services in regions of the moon where astronauts are present. This will entail transporting cargoes of other commodities including lunar soil to various regions of the moon. Transporting heavier loads of supplies and machinery to and from the locations where spacecraft land is the railway’s other primary function.
“FLOAT will operate autonomously in the dusty, inhospitable lunar environment with minimal site preparation, and its network of tracks can be rolled-up / reconfigured over time to match evolving lunar base mission requirements,” NASA explained.
Aerospace engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California are already working on the FLOAT system. Several components of the FLOAT system are presently being developed and tested by the organisation.
According to the space agency, FLOAT’s primary goal would be to offer transport services in regions of the moon where astronauts are present. This will entail transporting cargoes of other commodities including lunar soil to various regions of the moon. Transporting heavier loads of supplies and machinery to and from the locations where spacecraft land is the railway’s other primary function.
“FLOAT will operate autonomously in the dusty, inhospitable lunar environment with minimal site preparation, and its network of tracks can be rolled-up / reconfigured over time to match evolving lunar base mission requirements,” NASA explained.
Aerospace engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California are already working on the FLOAT system. Several components of the FLOAT system are presently being developed and tested by the organisation.
FLOAT will notably be a component of NASA’s Artemis programme, which aims to send humans back to the moon for the first time since 1972. The space agency has established September 2026 as the goal landing date for astronauts to reach the lunar surface.
