Lely Nordic launches Lely Astronaut Max – central unit for efficient and flexible milking
arrow_backTo the overview28 October 2025
A new central control solution for up to 18 milking robots has been awarded one star at Agromek Stars 2025.
Lely Nordic A/S presents Lely Astronaut Max – a new central unit that consolidates all functions related to milking, cleaning, and milk transport into one system. The unit connects the farm’s various Lely Astronaut milking robots and supplies hot and cold water, cleaning agents, teat spray, and vacuum for milking. At the same time, milk from all robots is collected centrally, then filtered, cooled, and pumped to the milk tank – even over long distances.
The system consists of three main components: a receiving unit, a central cleaning unit (CIP), and a vacuum unit. The receiving unit collects milk from up to 18 connected Astronauts and acts as a milk buffer, allowing milking and cleaning to take place simultaneously. The central cleaning unit automatically handles all rinsing and supplies the robots with cleaning agents, while the vacuum unit provides the necessary milking and transport vacuum with a built-in backup system, ensuring uninterrupted operation even in the event of technical faults.
The design of the Lely Astronaut Max gives it a large cleaning capacity, with the option of cleaning over long pump lines of up to 400 meter, whereas previously pump lines could only be up to 100 meter long. This provides great flexibility in terms of the location of the central machine unit in relation to the location of the many milking robots in the barns, while also allowing the tanks for milk cooling to be optimally positioned for collection and ensuring good access conditions on the property for the dairy's tanktrucks.
With Lely Astronaut Max, dairy producers can optimize both operations and capacity. Each robot can be cleaned individually, ensuring that milking capacity is always available and that work can continue without interruptions. The central control also reduces workload and creates a calmer environment for the cows.
The Agromek jury has awarded the innovation one star.
Further information:
Lely Nordic A/S
Røde Banke 114, Erritsø
7000 Fredericia
Tlf: 73 66 16 50
Email: scandinavia@lely.com
Website: www.lely.com
