Railguns are cool, but I think superconductor based maglevs are more viable. They don't need any sophisticated controls for neither acceleration nor floatation.

Railguns are cool, but I think superconductor based maglevs are more viable. They don't need any sophisticated controls for neither acceleration nor floatation. Hypothetically you can just fuel a cargo sled with LN2 to a fill line, give it a nudge, and it'll start rolling without needing any sophisticated computerized controls. Floatation is handled by pair of upoer and lower passive guide coils on the wall, just induction current can keep vehicles vertically centered. Propulsion is handled by constant alternating current on alternatingly pointed coils. Speed can be modulated between zero to max by merely modulating strength, not frequency or phase, of vehicle side magnets. It does need a lot of materials to build one with 3.5km/s max speed on the Moon, though, so a robotic Lunar foundry might have to be built first. But once that goes up... space megaprojects will be free, and launches from planetary surfaces will mainly be used for humans or valuable items.