NASA may no longer be flying space shuttles, but it is set to put another craft into the skies ... airships.

The US agency is building airships it believes will revolutionise the transport of cargo around the world, with its first prototype set to take off next year, London's Daily Telegraph reported.

"One of NASA's jobs is to solve the nation's air transportation challenges with research, and airships haven't seen much research in the past few decades," said Dr Pete Worden, the director of NASA research arm Ames at an airship conference in Alaska last month.

NASA hopes airships will become the new freight transporters of the 21st century, replacing trucks and trains and allowing heavy cargo to be flown into areas where rough terrain or poor infrastructure rules out ground travel.