On June 26, 2024, NASA announced that Collins Aerospace will no longer produce next-generation spacesuits for NASA because it has been significantly behind schedule and has drastically underperformed during the spacesuit development.
However, as stated by the Agency, this change will not impact NASA’s spacewalking capabilities on the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA will continue its collaboration with Collins to support NASA’s EMU (Extravehicular Activity Mobility Unit) spacesuit through the existing Extravehicular Space Operations Contract.
In 2022, NASA awarded Collins and Axiom Space a task order contract (a contract that does not specify a firm quantity of services) to advance spacewalking capabilities in low-Earth orbit and on the Moon.
Under this contract, Collins was commissioned to develop a spacewalking system for potential use on the ISS, and Axiom Space to develop a moonwalking system for the Artemis III mission.
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The current suits
Collins Aerospace is partly responsible for producing the spacesuits currently in use on the International Space Station (ISS). These spacesuits, developed decades ago, are having problems with maintenance and are causing inconvenience to astronauts during spacewalks.
The last accident happened on June 24, during the “spacewalk 90” while NASA astronauts Tracy Dyson and Mike Barratt ventured outside the space station to complete the removal of a faulty electronics box and collect samples for analysis.
After exiting the airlock, Dyson’s suit started losing water from the umbilical cooling unit obscuring her suit visor with ice and forcing the spacewalkers to end their extravehicular activity.
EMU suits had recently returned to service after a six-month break after water was found in the helmet worn by European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer following a spacewalk.
The first time a spacewalk was suspended due to unexpected water leakage was in July 2013, when ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano experienced a severe water leak that ended up covering most of his face.
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Axiom spacesuits
NASA has selected Axiom Space to deliver a moonwalking system for the Artemis III mission, which will land the next man and the first woman on the surface of the Moon, thus paving the way for a long-term, sustainable lunar presence and serving as a stepping stone for future astronaut missions to Mars.
Axiom Space is responsible for the design, development, qualification, certification, testing in a spacelike environment, and production of its spacesuits and support equipment while NASA maintains the authority for astronaut training and mission planning.
The Axiom Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) will help NASA astronauts access, live, and work on and around the Moon.
The spacesuits are designed to accommodate a wide range of crew members thanks to a different sizing, providing increased flexibility and greater protection allowing more exploration of the lunar surface than ever before.
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