Axiom’s two spacesuits being tested underwater in October 2025.
Click for original.

According to NASA’s inspector general’s report today [pdf] on the state of NASA’s effort to create new spacesuits for use by its astronauts on future space stations as well as in its Artemis lunar program, the planned schedules for the lunar landing and those stations are threatened because the agency presently has only one contractor, Axiom, building new suits, and has not established any spacesuit standardization rules should it want to issue contracts to others. From the report’s conclusion:

While NASA is taking steps to mitigate schedule risk, it must also contend with the unique risks inherent to a single-provider environment until future competition is introduced. … If Axiom cannot satisfy its contractual requirements in a timely or cost-effective manner, then NASA could be forced to continue using the problematic EMUs throughout the life of the ISS and significantly adjust its lunar plans. [EMUs are the complex suits presently used on ISS, and would not work well for any lunar landing mission.]

While xEVAS [the new suit concept] is flexible enough to allow for additional providers, doing so may not help the Agency meet its more immediate Artemis goals. Critically, NASA must address existing design and safety risks resulting from the lack of standard requirements for spacesuits to be compatible with various lunar spacecraft and assets.

As shown by the photo above, the development of Axiom’s spacesuit has been proceeding, and seems likely to be available for next year’s Artemis-3 Earth orbit test mission. At the same time, it is still behind schedule, a fact that has been mitigated because NASA’s entire Artemis program is equally behind schedule.

The report lists three commercial companies that might be able to provide alternative suits, and thus some redundancy, as shown by the image below.


SpaceX’s suits, while already tested during a spacewalk (by NASA’s own administrator Jared Isaacman), would need major upgrades, as they get their power and oxygen through an umbilical cable. They are not capable yet of operating independently.

ILC Dover’s suit is based on extensive past work, so it is possible it could be developed quickly.

The most interesting of these three options is the design being proposed by Genesis. Rather than a spacesuit, it is a pod similar to the pod seen in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Designed as a less complex, more efficient, and safer alternative to traditional spacesuits, this spacecraft would not require an airlock, could be piloted by crew in the vehicle or teleoperated from the ISS, and would utilize the same pressure as the Station—avoiding the need for lengthy prebreathe processes astronauts must perform prior to using EMUs.

Whether such a single-person spacecraft would work either on the Moon or to do delicate repair or installation work on future space stations remains unclear. I suspect its usefullness will be limited, but who knows?