SpaceX introduced its long-awaited spacesuits, designed for space exploration and to be used for the first time in upcoming private space flights. On May 4, the company released the design of its extravehicular activity (EVA) suit on its website and social media. The suit is based on existing compression suits worn by astronauts during spaceflight Crew DragonHowever, unlike these suits, it was designed for use in space.

Updates to the suit include new joint designs that remain soft against pressure while maintaining mobility, improved temperature control and an updated helmet with an outer shell that acts as a sunshade, as well as a camera and head-up display that provides information about the suit. Condition of the suit during the spacewalk. Umbilical cords provide life support to the suits.

The suits will first be used during the Polaris Dawn mission, a special Crew Dragon spaceflight that is part of the Polaris mission program backed by billionaire Jared Isaacman. In this mission, Kidd Poteet will fly alongside Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon. All four will be in suits because the Crew Dragon, which has no airlock, will need to depressurize to enter space.

During a discussion hosted by SpaceX on social media on May 4, Gillis said the spacewalk would take about two hours, including time to initially depressurize the cabin and re-pressurize it at the end. Two people will exit the capsule using a device called a “skywalker” on the front hatch, which has handles and interfaces to help them get through the hatch.

Astronauts will go through a “test matrix” to collect data on the effectiveness of their EVA suits. “It looks at mobility, movement and how the suit works in this microgravity environment,” he said. “There are a number of test questions that will take place outside the spacecraft.”

The suits were tested extensively on the ground, including a test in which the entire Crew Dragon capsule was placed in a vacuum chamber and depressurized by four “spacesuit simulators” inside the cabin. “Everything worked as expected,” said Stu Keach, SpaceX vice president of Dragon. “This is equivalent to an unmanned Demo-1 flight” by Crew Dragon in 2019.

The spacewalk also required changes to the Dragon itself, such as a repressurization system to re-pressurize the cabin after a spacewalk and changing some materials based on their degassing properties. “When you see photos of us sitting on the spacecraft, the interior will look a little different,” Gillis said.

The suits will also be used as spacesuits worn during launch and entry into typical Crew Dragon missions. Based on what the company learned while developing the EVA suits, SpaceX plans to eventually combine the two suits into one, with some changes already made to the suits since the Crew-6 mission.

“The goal of this suit is to be our first EVA suit design, and then as with all SpaceX products, we will continue to update the blocks as we progress and learn,” Keach said.