NASA will have new spacesuits

NASA announced on June 1 that it had chosen the companies Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace to develop future spacesuits for astronauts. They will use it to go out into the vacuum of space as part of extra-vehicular outings from the ISS but also to walk on the Moon.

The Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace teams will supply NASA with spacesuits until 2034. The total value of the contract is $3.5 billion. If Axiom is a new entrant in the field, Collins is a company that already knows it. Indeed, with the help of ILC Dover, Collins has been supplying NASA with EMU spacesuits for decades, the technology of which was developed within the agency.

The spacesuits ordered will initially replace the current xEMUs used for extra-vehicular exits (EVA) from the American segment of the ISS. They will be welcome because the resort’s diving suits are aging. Besides, outings are canceled since last month and this, until further notice after having noticed a leak of water which accumulated (in small quantities) in the helmet of the German astronaut Matthias Maurer during the EVA of March 23rd. As a reminder, the Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano almost drowned in his helmet following a water leak in 2013.

The spacesuit order also concerns the lunar missions of the Artemis program. First demonstration expected in 2024-2025 with Artemis II, the first manned mission around the Moonpreceding the return to the surface with Artemis III.

Towards the privatization of American manned flight

Axiom Space becomes an essential partner of NASA for manned flight. Already, the company has made a tourist flight in April aboard the international space station. In addition, the company aims to attach a private module to the American segment of the ISS in 2024. The module is under construction in Turin, in Italy, at Thales Alenia Space. Eventually, other modules will join to form a first private space station which will detach from the ISS and which will accommodate astronauts, tourists and scientific experiments.

This announcement of the privatization of spacesuits follows NASA’s policy of integrating more and more private companies into the American astronautics program. Little by little, over the years, NASA has delegated the project management of its program tools to salespeople. After the shutdown of space shuttles in 2011, commercialization began with freighters (entrusted to SpaceX and Northrop Grumman), spacecraft (SpaceX’s Crew Dragon and Starliner from Boeing), and it continues with spacesuits as a final example. In the future, it will even be the station that will be private, this is how NASA sees the “after ISS”. Axiom and its station are among the best candidates.