Astronaut A5 Next
About
About Astronaut A5 Next
Astronaut A5 Next is Lely's current generation of the fixed voluntary-milking system it has developed over more than three decades. Cows enter the I-Flow box on their own schedule and are identified by the system. A hybrid arm combines electrically driven positioning with pneumatic load balancing, while the Teat Detection System 2+ locates the udder and supports preparation and cup attachment. The installation then monitors the milking visit and records cow-level data for farm management.
The A5 Next generation adds the AOS-2 operating system, designed for remote updates, diagnostics and future feature development. Lely says the design draws on more than 50, 000 installed Astronaut robots across over 40 countries; across the Astronaut family. The product is commercially available through Lely Centers in its validated markets, while North American availability follows local validation. Farm layout, herd routines, service coverage and animal-management practices remain central to deployment outcomes.
Capabilities
Source-backed capabilities
- Operating environments: Dairy-farm voluntary milking installations
- Control modes: Autonomous
- Robotic milking
Claimed - Prepare teats, attach milking cups and manage individual cow milking visits using the hybrid arm and detection system. - environment: Dairy-farm voluntary milking installations
Source
Resources
Curated durable documents and official technical references.
- Astronaut A5 Next — official brochure
PDF · Astronaut A5 Next · Lely
Source
Timeline
- Lely launches Astronaut A5 Next, Astronaut Max and Lely Hub
2025-06-24 - Product Launch - A5 Next introduced a new operating system for remote assistance and software updates, and laser-plus-camera teat detection. An optional automatic milk filter reduced filter-sock changes; selected A5 Next features could also be fitted to existing A5 installations. Astronaut Max combined larger-farm milking management with up to 18 milking boxes, while Lely Hub added managed data protection with rollout planned from 2026.
Source
Context
Comparable Systems
- Gemini UP
BouMatic - Agriculture Robot
- Gemini UP MAX
BouMatic - Milking Robot
- M2erlin Milking Robot
Fullwood - Agriculture Robot
Related Systems
- Discovery Collector
Lely - Autonomous Cleaning Robot
- Juno
Lely - Agricultural Robot
- Vector MFR Next
Lely - Agricultural Robot