Toby Li Is Building a Faster Way to Move Cargo Across the Moon

InSitu Space’s Daedalus hopper is designed to carry payloads beyond a single landing site, giving scientists and operators access to lunar terrain that conventional rovers may struggle to reach.

A spacecraft can reach the Moon and still leave its payload confined to a single landing site. Lunar landers use nearly all of their propellant during descent, leaving little ability to move cargo after touchdown. Toby Li, co-founder and CEO of InSitu Space, is developing a spacecraft intended to address that next transportation problem. Daedalus would use rocket propulsion to make precise hops across the lunar surface, carrying payloads between locations in minutes.

“Most of the industry is focused on getting to the Moon, and that work is essential,” Li says. “The next question is how we move once we are there.”

A scientist or operator who needs access to a second geologically distinct site currently has limited options. A rover may spend hours or days crossing the surface, and hazardous terrain can block the route entirely. Reaching the second location through another landing would require a new mission opportunity, another lander slot, and the time needed to rebuild and refly the payload.

Li describes the goal as building “the equivalent of the transcontinental railroad for the Moon.” Landing systems create the first connection between Earth and the lunar surface. He believes a working lunar economy will also need transportation that connects individual sites after a spacecraft arrives.

“We want the payload to keep moving after the lander touches down,” Li says. “One landing should be able to support work at more than one location.”

Daedalus is designed to ride to the Moon aboard a lander and separate after touchdown. It would then use its own propulsion to launch along a controlled arc before landing at another site. The vehicle would travel above the terrain rather than follow it like a wheeled rover.

That approach could allow Daedalus to cross craters, steep slopes, and other areas that a ground vehicle may not be able to navigate. It could also compress a multi-day rover journey into a much shorter trip.

“A rover is limited by the terrain along its route,” Li says. “A hopper can travel over areas a ground vehicle may not be able to cross.”

The practical advantage is access to several locations through one lunar landing. A customer integrates an instrument/payload to the Daedalus Hopper. Daedalus rides to the Moon on the lander, separates, and flies its payloads to different destinations. The concept could reduce the need for a separate landing each time an operator wants to reach another area.

Li sees that capability as part of the infrastructure required for sustained activity on the Moon. Future missions will need ways to move scientific instruments and commercial cargo between sites. Surface mobility could also support later work involving resources, though those applications remain long-term possibilities rather than completed products.

“We are trying to give customers more access from a single mission,” Li says. “That can change what they can accomplish after reaching the surface.”

Li holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of California, Davis, and is completing a master’s degree in astronautical engineering at the University of Southern California. His earlier technical experience includes high-pressure fluid systems at the USC Liquid Propulsion Laboratory. He also conducted bioastronautics research at UC Davis and helped construct an analog deep-space habitat for NASA HOME research under former astronaut Dr. Stephen Robinson.

At InSitu Space, Li leads the company and the development effort behind Daedalus. His responsibilities extend across the decisions needed to move the spacecraft from concept toward testing and eventual flight. The available information does not identify every subsystem he owns personally.

“You have to reduce technical risk before the lunar mission,” Li says. “Each test should tell you something specific about whether the vehicle is ready for the next step.”

The company’s development plan begins with propulsion. InSitu Space aims to complete a hotfire campaign for the Daedalus rocket engine, allowing the team to test the system that will power the vehicle’s hops. An Earth-based vehicle that can simulate lunar gravity called the Daedalus Drone is planned as a hopper testbed to test the vehicle's guidance, navigation, and control.

The next phase would move testing into orbit. Daedalus Demo Orbit, a CubeSat testbed, is intended to validate spacecraft subsystems before the company attempts a lunar flight. The current plan then calls for a sub-scale lunar hopper demonstration ahead of Daedalus Mission-1, the first full-scale mission.

“The ground testbed lets us work on the vehicle’s motion and control,” Li says. “The orbital test is another opportunity to validate spacecraft systems before they are committed to a lunar mission.”

Li views cargo delivery as InSitu Space’s clearest near-term opportunity because surface mobility remains an unresolved need. The company’s longer-term ambitions reach beyond transportation. It may eventually explore systems that support lunar mining or in-situ resource utilization, but those ideas depend on proving Daedalus first.

The company name reflects that focus. “In situ” means “on site” in Latin, referring to the work that begins after people and spacecraft arrive. Li wants InSitu Space to help build the systems that make continued activity possible across the lunar surface.

For now, his attention is on a defined engineering sequence. The team must test the engine, demonstrate controlled hopping on Earth, validate systems in orbit, and prepare for a lunar demonstration. Each milestone is intended to bring Daedalus closer to proving that one landing can support work across more than one part of the Moon.