Spacesuits for NASA’s Artemis III Mission to be Built by Axiom Space

NASA is preparing for its next Moon landing, and it is ordering new spacesuits for the journey. It has granted Axiom Space a $228.5 million contract to make a “moonwalking system” for the agency’s return to the lunar surface.

Axiom was among two firms in the running to make spacesuits for NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to deliver astronauts back to the Moon for the first time in over half a century. NASA currently has a restricted supply of spacesuits for use on the International Space Station. However, lunar spacesuits will need to be extremely different. Along with severe temperature variations, they will need to contend with the Moon’s gravity and the infamously problematic lunar dust that tends to adhere to everything.

NASA had been developing its own Lunar spacesuits and revealed the works-in-progress in 2019. However, in 2021, a report discovered that the development of the suits was postponed and that they would not be ready for the intended lunar touchdown. Instead, in June, NASA revealed that it had chosen to outsource the development of its lunar spacesuit to two firms: Collins Aerospace, which has experience creating spacesuits for NASA, and Axiom Space.

Axiom previously arranged to send the first completely private team to the International Space Station on a SpaceX rocket. The firm’s long-term objectives consist of building a commercial space station.

NASA intends to employ Axiom’s spacesuits on the future Artemis III mission, landing the first female on the Moon. However, initially, the company needs to get the Artemis I mission off the ground. That mission, which will send out an uncrewed capsule past the Moon, will act as a test mission for future journeys, including Artemis III. It has, however, been continuously delayed.

Originally published by: The Verge