Axiom Space has chosen an unlikely partner to help design the spacesuits in which the next NASA astronauts will walk on the moon: Prada. Italian luxury fashion house Axiom Space and Prada announced on October 4 that they are collaborating on spacesuits that Axiom is developing for use on Artemis missions, starting with Artemis 3 in 2025. Axiom Space will use Prada’s expertise in textiles and other technologies. Help with costume.

“While it may not seem obvious what the technological reasons are for working with a company like Prada, they are more than a fashion company. They actually do a lot of things that are technologically advanced,” Michael Suffredini, CEO of Axiom Space, said in an interview.

“There is much more to the company’s culture than fashion,” Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada Group’s marketing director, said in an interview. He noted that the company’s experience in composites dates back to the 1990s, when it founded the Luna Rossa yacht team to compete in the America’s Cup.

Prada will help Axiom work on the spacesuit’s outer layer, which should protect the spacesuit’s inner layers from the space environment, including lunar dust, without impeding mobility. “As for the design aspect of this piece, it makes a lot of sense because Prada has a lot of experience in design, look and feel,” Suffredini said. “More importantly, there are also these technological challenges to overcome.”

“I think the suit perfectly represents what a holistic approach should be,” Bertelli said. “We have a lot of knowledge about how to combine fabrics to provide better mobility.”

Suffredini said Prada was also interested in using its expertise in composite materials. He said using composites for the dress’s body parts and pants could make the dress lighter. “Mass is everything when you go to space, so this could be a big advantage for us.”

He said he heard about Prada’s technological expertise while doing other work for Axiom Space in Italy. Bertelli said at the time that he wanted to use Prada’s technical expertise in other areas.

“Our first meeting was very interesting because we really discussed ideas of how we would work together. We didn’t know exactly what it would be,” said Suffredini. “We wanted to work with promising companies, not only in space, but also in other sectors.”

“We got to know each other really quickly and I think what we did was going to be a win-win for both of us,” Bertelli said. “I’m sure we’ll have bigger projects to work on together in the future.”

Suffredini said the partnership with Prada could expand to other projects, such as plans for the Axiom commercial space station. “I think there will be a lot of areas where you can see Prada help.”

But for now, the focus is on the spacesuit. “The biggest thing I tell my team every day is that we’re going to do this program. We’re going to make a suit, it’s going to be a great suit, but we’re going to do it on time,” Suffredini said.

The suit is being developed for NASA under a $228.5 million order awarded in September 2022 under the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services program, under which NASA will supply spacesuits for both the Artemis missions and the International Space Station. Suffredini said Axiom Space notified NASA about its plans to work with Prada and the agency was supportive. “They’ve been very receptive to everything we’ve ever done in the cosplay world, and they’re open to it.”

One question is how the suit will look with this outer layer designed in collaboration with Prada; The companies only released a brief portion of the costume. According to Bertelli, the focus in the design of this outer layer will be its functionality. “But there are areas where you think there will be room for creativity,” he added.

“I’m excited to see what the final design will look like with Prada’s creativity,” Suffredini said. “I can’t tell you what it’s going to be like, but I feel good. “It will look very unique compared to how spacesuits have looked before.”