NASA has selected two companies, Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace, to design spacesuits for its lunar program and future missions to the International Space Station (ISS). They will replace the current costumes, produced 40 years ago, AFP reported.
“History will be made with costumes when we get to the moon. We will have our first color and our first woman to wear and use these costumes in space,” Vanessa Witch, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, told Houston. . Initially, NASA wanted to build the costumes themselves, but faced significant development delays.
The cooperation with the two companies is in line with the agency’s decision to establish public-private partnerships. “This policy aims to save some costs, as NASA has joint ventures with private sector companies,” Witch said.
The values of the contracts have not been announced yet, but they have a combined ceiling of $ 3.5 billion by 2034.
NASA may eventually choose both companies, just one, or add more companies later. However, once the suits are completed, the companies will own them and be responsible for their maintenance. Axiom Space, which has already sent two tourists to the International Space Station on a SpaceX mission, plans to build its own space station, which means it will have to develop its own space suits for future customers.
“We are already planning to design our own space suits for our program, so it will be great to help NASA in this area,” said Mike Sufredini, the company’s chief executive. The US space agency has set out the technical standards for the suits that will be used to move to the moon and in low orbit around the International Space Station.
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