Lunar construction robots have successfully built a 5m-high communications tower in an environment simulating the surface of the moon.
Space and lunar construction robotics start-up GITAI undertook the demonstration in an unspecified US desert. GITAI worked with KDDI, one of Japan’s largest telecommunications operators.
The demonstration featured two examples of GITAI’s lunar construction robots: a lunar rover, and several of the so-called inchworms (extendable arms with grapples for holding items).
As well as constructing the communications tower, the robots connected the communication antenna to the apex of the tower and the power cables. The same combination of robots then disassembled the antenna and tower to simulate maintenance operations essential for sustainable lunar city development.
GITAI’s robots were selected for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s 10-year lunar architecture capability study in December 2023.
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