NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) on Monday released a report assessing the space agency’s procurement process for next-generation spacesuits, suggesting that the commercial service route may not be the best approach. NASA now relies on a single provider, Axiom Space, to deliver the spacesuits to be worn by astronauts to the Moon during the Artemis 4 mission, currently planned for 2028. However, the report determined that Axiom’s spacesuit would not be ready until 2031.
“Although NASA is taking proactive steps to enable Axiom’s success, if Axiom cannot meet its contractual requirements in a timely or cost-effective manner, the Agency may be forced to significantly adjust its lunar and microgravity spacewalking plans,” the report said.
years in the making
NASA astronauts need new spacesuits. Those currently on the International Space Station (ISS) are more than 40 years old and have endangered the lives of astronauts on some occasions.
Rather than develop its own spacesuits, NASA chose to award two Exploration Extravehicular Activities Services contracts worth up to a combined $3.1 billion. Firm-fixed-price deals were awarded to Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace in 2022. The companies were tasked with developing the spacesuits, while NASA would essentially rent them for its astronauts. However, after two years, Collins dropped out, leaving Axiom as the only remaining supplier.
The OIG report stated that “While NASA’s firm-fixed-price, service-based contracts may be effective for some procurements, they are not suitable for developmental efforts such as next-generation spacesuits,” and that the agency “has made risky management decisions.”
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman responded to the OIG report by saying that NASA needs to be mindful of its contracting approach in areas where it is the only customer. “This places a significant capital burden on providers while they wait for additional demand to be met,” Isaacman wrote on X.
no suit, no moon
So, where does this spacesuit leave us today? NASA originally planned to demonstrate Axiom’s next-generation spacesuit in 2025 and 2026, but the report said this was “overly optimistic and unrealistic”.
Axiom Space recently announced that it will perform the first in-flight test of its Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (XEMU) spacesuit in 2027, either aboard the ISS or during the upcoming Artemis 3 mission.
However, OIG estimates that the spacesuit will not be demonstrated until 2031, based on the historical average of development times for other recent spaceflight programs. “Despite efforts to accelerate the schedule, there is no schedule margin for the spacesuits to be ready for the Artemis lunar landing missions and the amount of margin is decreasing before decommissioning of the ISS,” the report said.
In response to the report, Axiom Space pushed back the estimated timeline. “Axiom Space is supplying the most advanced spacesuits ever made for human lunar exploration – and we’re doing it with the Artemis mission on demand,” the company wrote on X.
The company noted that it has conducted more than 950 hours of crude pressurized testing, completed the first thermal vacuum testing of a pressure garment, and delivered more than 1,300 products for critical design review.
Isaacman also reiterated on X, “I am confident that when NASA is ready to land on the Moon in 2028, our astronauts will be wearing Axiom suits.”
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