NASA just announced that Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace will develop the next-gen spacesuits that future astronauts will wear for their spacewalks.
(Photo : Aubrey Gemignani/NASA via Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL - MAY 06: In this handout photo provided by NASA, (L-R) ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Matthais Maurer, NASA astronauts Tom Marshburn, Raja Chari, and Kayla Barron, are seen inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft onboard the SpaceX Shannon recovery ship shortly after having landed in the Gulf of Mexico on May 6, 2022 off the coast of Tampa, Florida.
This is a bold move for NASA, with the agency giving the job to the private sector after struggling to develop a new suit of its own.
The contract is valued at $3.5 billion, a ceiling that covers the life of the contract, encompassing both partial development costs and future purchases of the suits for use by the agency.
Once the suits are complete, the companies will own them and will have the option to use them for other purposes unrelated to NASA.
The Suits
After 15 years of struggle to make new spacesuits, NASA now hands it off to the commercial industry. Collins Aerospace already has a background in spacesuit building. The company helped create the current suits used by NASA.
On the other hand, Axiom Space is a relatively new company that is focused on creating private space stations.
The suits will be designed to fit a wide range of body types and be ready to be worn by astronauts on Artemis II, the third launch of NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System, and the current target for the first landing.
Also Read: Astronauts Drowning in Space? NASA Puts ISS Spacewalks on Hold
The Artemis Program
The new spacesuits will be used in the Artemis program, which is NASA's initiative to send humans back to the lunar surface. Currently, NASA's goal is to land the first Artemis astronauts on the Moon by 2025.
Another goal of the Artemis is to land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon.
During a press conference, Dan Burbank, a former astronaut and senior tech fellow at Collins Aerospace said, "So that she has got a suit that's appropriately sized and tailored for her-that doesn't feel like a spacecraft that feels like a ruggedized set of extreme sports outerwear-that should be the goal."
There are doubts whether NASA can meet this deadline, though. This is because of the amount of work left to do to achieve the first landing. In fact, a primary holdup is spacesuit development.
As mentioned, NASA tried its hand at creating its spacesuits, but several audits revealed that their work has been inefficient and came with numerous technical challenges.
Leaving It All Up to Them
Now, NASA leaves everything spacesuit-related to these two companies, while the agency's engineers will continue testing on the xEMU through the end of the year but will eventually move to provide insights to the commercial companies. The data and research the agency has gathered through xEMU development will also be accessible to the two companies.
Related Article: NASA's Next-Gen Artemis Mission Spacesuit Manufacturers To Be Announced; Conference Schedule and Other Details
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Written by April Fowell
