The astronaut wears Prada – NASA’s new spacesuits are out of this world

It is better known for putting designer heels on the catwalk than boots on the moon, but the Italian fashion house is helping to design spacesuits for Nasa’s next manned lunar mission.

Engineers from the label owned by Prada will work with Axiom teams throughout the design process.Source: Axiom Space

It is better known for putting designer heels on the catwalk than boots on the moon, but the Italian fashion house Prada is helping to design spacesuits for Nasa’s next manned lunar mission.

Prada will collaborate with the Texas-based company Axiom Space on suits for the Artemis astronauts who are due to make the first crewed moon landing since Apollo 17 in 1972.

For the Artemis III mission, scheduled for December 2025, the astronauts will wear the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEmu) suit, which is being developed under a dollars 228.5 million contract between NASA and Axiom.

The luxury goods brand has been invited to collaborate on the designs due to its expertise in working with composite materials, such as those used by yacht-racing crews in the America’s Cup.

Prada will design the suit’s outer layer, which will protect the inner layers and pressurised systems from the space environment, including lunar dust.

While details are under wraps, it is said to be an improvement on existing models, combining comfort with “much needed human factors absent from legacy spacesuits”, Michael Suffredini, chief executive of Axiom Space, said.

In March, Axiom unveiled an early prototype of the AxEmu spacesuit that had a hatch in the back for easy access and was topped with a large clear bubble helmet with integrated lights and a camera. Previous iterations of NASA suits were designed for the male body, and had bulky fabrics, fewer joints and heavier equipment. The new suits will be easier to move in and fit most men and women, Axiom has said.

A spokesman for the company said that Prada would “refine the AxEmu spacesuit outer layer, bringing advanced materials and stylistic elements to improve overall spacesuit design”, while Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada Group’s marketing director, called the collaboration “a true celebration of the power of human creativity and innovation to advance civilisation”.

Engineers from the label owned by Prada will work with Axiom teams throughout the design process. Source: Axiom Space

Axiom, based in Houston, has emerged as a leading light in America’s growing private space industry that also includes Elon Musk’s SpaceX. As well as collaborating with NASA, Axiom also aims to open the world’s first commercial space station in 2025.

The Artemis III mission is due to land two astronauts on the moon – the first ever woman and person of colour to do so – in a new lander called the Starship Human Landing System, which is made by SpaceX. It is envisaged the astronauts will spend about a week on the surface near the lunar south pole, conducting up to four spacewalks wearing the AxEmu suit and performing scientific observations.

Under the deal, Axiom and Prada’s design could be used by further missions until 2034 and beyond.

Prada gained experience with state-of-the-art design using innovative materials after founding the Luna Rossa sailing team in the 1990 Picture: Phil Walter/Getty Images

Spacesuits have come a long way since Nasa’s Project Mercury suit of 1959, which looked like a tin foil jumpsuit, and the ultra-padded “manned manoeuvring unit “of 1981 for the space shuttle crews, which had visible oxygen tubes.

Private space companies such as SpaceX have also developed designs, with the “Starman” suits for the company’s Crew Dragon capsule having 3D-printed helmets and touchscreen-sensitive gloves.

In an interview for Space News, Suffredini said that while Prada, founded in 1913, is not known for space travel, the fashion house does “quite a bit of technologically advanced things”. The company gained experience with state-of-the-art design using innovative materials after founding the Luna Rossa sailing team in the 1990s to compete in the America’s Cup. Suffredini also promised that Prada’s space suit would be a head-turner. “It’s going to look very unique compared to what spacesuits formerly looked like,” he said.