DARPA selects Northrop Grumman to develop lunar railroad concept

DARPA has selected Northrop Grumman to develop and advance a concept of building a rail transport system on the Moon.

Northrop Grumman was selected as part of DARPA's broader ambitions to build a "lunar economy." (DARPA)

Image of the Moon. (NASA)

Northrop Grumman on Tuesday announced that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) selected it for the further development of the concept of building a moon-based railroad network.

The DARPA is a United States Department of Defense agency responsible for research and development of advanced technology. DARPA was the driving force behind many of the technologies that helped carry humanity to the Moon with the Apollo program. That includes Saturn V, the rocket used to launch Apollo missions.

The lunar railroad envisioned by DARPA could be used to transport humans, supplies and resources to and from different parts of the lunar surface and could contribute to the burgeoning space economy that the United States is betting on. DARPA selected Northrop Grumman for the lunar railroad as part of its broad 10-year Lunar Architecture (LunA-10) Capability Study to develop a “lunar economy.”

Story continues below this ad

“This investment in key developmental research keeps our technology at the forefront of next generation solutions. With our proven experience in the integration of complex systems and commercialized autonomous services, we will continue to create lasting change for a sustainable space ecosystem,” said Chris Adams, vice president and general manager, strategic space systems, Northrop Grumman, in a press statement.

Northrop Grumman will now have a series of responsibilities that it must undertake in a new study. First, it will have to define the interfaces and resources that will be needed to build a rail network on the Moon. Then, it will have to establish a list of foreseeable cost, technological and logistical risks.

After that, the company will identify prototypes, demonstrations and analyses of a fully operating lunar rail system’s concept design and architecture. Along with that, it will also explore concepts for constructing and operating the system with robotics, including grading and foundation preparation, track placement, and alignment, joining and finishing, inspection, maintenance and repair.