Overview
- NASA’s inspector general, in a report released Monday, said suit demos may not occur until 2031 based on recent program timelines, which would squeeze ISS testing before its planned 2030 retirement and threaten the 2028 Artemis landing date.
- In 2022 NASA picked Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace to build next‑generation suits, but Collins exited in 2024 after missing milestones, leaving Axiom as the sole provider and concentrating program risk in one company.
- The audit says NASA’s firm‑fixed‑price, service model shifted too much development risk to industry for a complex, first‑of‑a‑kind suit and notes there is no real non‑NASA market yet, with both lunar and ISS suit schedules already slipping by at least 18 months.
- The report flags integration problems, including Axiom choosing a different suit‑to‑vehicle connection than NASA’s reference design, which could force Blue Origin to redesign its Blue Moon airlock or add custom donning and doffing hardware.
- NASA agreed to develop interoperability standards and a single vehicle‑to‑xEVA interface document by December 31, 2027, while NASA and Axiom still voice confidence and point to a planned suit demo during a 2027 Earth‑orbit test ahead of the 2028 landing.