To ensure humanity’s successful return to the Moon and continue performing spacewalks outside the International Space Station (ISS), NASA needs next-generation spacesuits with enhanced capabilities. Today, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a new report assessing the Agency’s efforts to obtain new lunar suits and updated microgravity suits for use on the ISS.
As the OIG previously reported in 2017 and 2021, NASA has yet to complete these next-generation spacesuits despite nearly two decades of effort. After several in-house and contractor-supported attempts, the Agency awarded Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services (xEVAS) contracts to Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace in 2022. These xEVAS contracts are currently worth up to $3.1 billion. Instead of owning the spacesuits, NASA will purchase spacewalking services—essentially renting the spacesuits from the companies—following an initial demonstration.
Collins has been the sole spacesuit maintenance provider for the existing ISS suits for many years, as the OIG recently reported. However, in 2024, Collins and NASA mutually agreed to descope the company’s xEVAS task orders, citing an inability to meet the agreed-upon schedule. The Agency had already spent $37 million on Collins’ efforts, and now it remains reliant on Axiom to deliver both the lunar and microgravity suits.
The OIG’s new report determined that NASA’s original goals to demonstrate the lunar and microgravity spacesuits in 2025 and 2026, respectively, were overly optimistic and unrealistic. Both suits are at least a year and a half behind schedule, as Axiom is currently planning for spacesuit demonstration readiness in late 2027. However, if Axiom’s testing schedule follows historical averages, the spacesuit demonstrations would not occur until 2031.
While NASA’s firm-fixed-price, service-based contracts can be effective for certain procurements, they are not well-suited for developmental efforts like next-generation spacesuits. The OIG concluded that NASA made risky management decisions to promote competition between its xEVAS providers and ensure redundancy. Although NASA is taking proactive steps to enable Axiom’s success, if Axiom cannot satisfy its contractual requirements in a timely or cost-effective manner, the Agency could be forced to significantly adjust its lunar and microgravity spacewalking plans.
Although the OIG identified several companies that could compete for NASA’s spacewalking needs, Agency officials do not believe that adding another spacesuit provider at this time would help achieve their immediate Artemis and ISS goals. The OIG made two recommendations to improve management of the xEVAS effort—and ensure astronauts have safe, reliable spacesuits for both lunar exploration and ISS operations.
