Axiom Reveals New Artemis Lunar EVA Suit

It's actually a little weirder than that.  It's a joint effort by Axiom Space, and Prada, the fashion company. Perhaps fittingly, the new space suit was revealed in one of the fashion capitals of the world, Milan, Italy. Not at a fashion show, but at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) held on Oct. 16 in Milan, six hours ahead of Eastern US time, and two hours ahead of UTC.

First, you might recall how the first look at these suits came across back in March of '23. If not, I have a picture (and links to others) here.  These suits look nothing like those, nor do they look like the SpaceX EVA suits we saw a few weeks ago during Polaris Dawn. Thankfully, they don't look much like Prada fashion, either. 

Axiom Space and Prada revealed the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit in a press conference held at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) here today (Oct. 16).

AxEMU will be used for NASA's Artemis 3 mission, which is currently scheduled to launch in late 2026. It has been specially designed for the lunar south pole, which will be a colder environment than astronauts experienced on the Apollo missions, which landed around the moon's equator.

The new spacesuit incorporates multiple redundant systems and an onboard diagnostic system to ensure safety for crewmembers, according to Axiom. It features lights and an HD camera on the helmet, 4G/LTE communication, a suit control interface, biometric monitoring, regenerable carbon dioxide scrubbing and portable life support to keep astronauts safe for up to eight hours. It can also accommodate a wide range of crewmembers, male or female.

The suit. 

White and not black like the ones we saw in March '23?  Matt Ondler, Axiom Space President, has said that during development, Axiom Space used a dark cover layer for display to conceal the suit’s proprietary technology. However, the spacesuit worn on the lunar surface will be made from a white material that reflects heat and protects astronauts from extreme high temperatures and lunar dust. 

If you're like me, you're probably wondering what a company like Prada would have to do with something that's more "industrial" than fashionable. It turned out it was a partnership between engineers and artisans that each have specialized knowledge of their own. 

The partnership with Prada was highlighted as a cross-industry collaboration success. "I'm very proud of the result we're showing today, which is just the first step in a long-term collaboration with Axiom Space," said Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada chief marketing officer, in a statement. "We've shared our expertise on high-performance materials, features, and sewing techniques, and we learned a lot."

Russell Ralston, Axiom's executive vice president of extravehicular activity, speaking at the unveiling, said the partnership was groundbreaking.

"This collaboration exemplifies the power to create better technology solutions together by merging Axiom Space's elite engineering experience with Prada's all-round craftsmanship. We've blended engineering, science and art to produce the ultimate garments, ensuring that astronauts can perform their tasks and missions in safety and comfort."

The collaboration doesn't stop there. Because the Artemis missions and therefore the suits are aimed at the lunar South Pole, that's going to mean the sun is lower in the sky and that means the astronauts are going to need more protection from the sun than the Apollo astronauts did landing much closer to the equator. "We've partnered with others like Oakley for optimal system design to enhance astronaut visibility," Ondler said.

Axiom's summary of their suits' features. It brings to mind the one in this post, but they're not conducive to point-by-point comparison. 

It's worth pointing out that this is still early in the AxEMU suit development and much testing lies ahead at this point. It's a safe bet that there will be changes. Axiom also intends to use the suits in places besides the lunar surface: there are discussions about using it in their planned space station work and other work in the low Earth orbit arena. "We also think there are commercial opportunities to work with commercial and private astronauts," Ondler said.