Almost exactly two Years ago, while preparing for the next generation of human spaceflight, NASA tapped a pair of private companies to design and develop new spacesuits. These were new spacesuits that would allow astronauts to spacewalk outside the International Space Station and walk on the Moon as part of the Artemis program.
Now, that plan appears to be in trouble, and one of the spacesuit suppliers, Collins Aerospace, is expected to back out, Ars has learned. It’s a blow to NASA, because the space agency really needs modern spacesuits.
NASA’s Apollo-era suits have long since been retired. The suits currently used for spacewalks in low-Earth orbit are four decades old. “These new capabilities will allow us to continue on the ISS and allow us to do the Artemis program and continue on to Mars,” Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche said during a celebratory news conference in Houston. two years ago.
The two winning teams were led by Collins Aerospace and axiom spacerespectively. They were eligible for task orders worth up to $3.5 billion; In essence, NASA would rent the use of these suits for a couple of decades. NASA has since designated Axiom to work primarily on a suit for the Moon and the Artemis Program, and Collins to develop a suit for in-orbit operations, such as space station maintenance.
Collins departures
This week, however, Collins said he will likely end his participation in the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services, or xEVAS, contract. On Tuesday morning, Chris Ayers, CEO of Collins Aerospace, met with employees to inform them of the company’s exit from the program. A NASA source confirmed the decision.
“Unfortunately, Collins has been significantly delayed,” a person familiar with the situation told Ars. “Collins has admitted that they drastically underperformed and overspended on their xEVAS work, culminating in a request to be removed from the contract or renegotiate the scope and its budget.”
NASA and Collins Aerospace acknowledged a request for comment sent by Ars early Tuesday morning but, as of the afternoon, did not provide substantive answers to questions about this action, nor did they take any steps forward.
The agency has been experiencing periodic problems with maintenance of the decades-old suits, known as the Extravehicular Mobility Unit, which made its debut in the 1980s. NASA It has been recognized The suit has exceeded its expected useful life. Precisely this Monday, the agency had to stop a space walk after the airlock was depressurized and the hatch opened due to a water leak in the umbilical service and cooling unit of Tracy Dyson’s spacesuit.
As a result of this problem, NASA will probably only be able to conduct one spacewalk this summer, after initially planning threeto complete the work outside the International Space Station.
Greater pressure on the axiom
During the bidding process for the commercial spacesuit program, which ran in 2021 and 2022, only two bidders ultimately emerged. Collins, a unit of Raytheon Technologies, was the most experienced bidder on spacesuits, having designed the original Apollo suits and partnering with experienced suppliers ILC Dover and Oceaneering. Axiom is a newer company that, until the spacesuit competition, was primarily focused on developing a private space station.
While evaluating the bids, NASA officials expressed some concerns about Collins’ approach, noting that the proposal relied on “rapid acceleration of technology maturation and resolution of key technical trade studies to achieve the proposed timeline.” However, in their font selection statementThe agency concluded that it had a “high level of confidence” that Collins would be able to deliver his spacesuits.