AxEMU Spacesuit
Overview
Next-generation extravehicular mobility unit evolved from NASA's xEMU design, built for the Artemis IV crewed lunar landing (targeted early 2028) after NASA's early-2026 Artemis restructuring turned Artemis III into a non-landing rendezvous and docking test flight - supporting at least two-hour EVAs at the lunar south pole and in permanently shadowed regions - with redundant life support, improved mobility joints, and broad crew sizing. Prada co-developed the outer layer (2024) and the liquid cooling and ventilation inner garment (unveiled June 2026).
In critical design phase, now running a roughly yearlong qualification-testing campaign (vibration and thermal-vacuum testing of a qualification unit) expected to wrap around mid-2027, with NASA planning to fly the first Axiom suit in 2027 on the ISS or during the Artemis III test flight; NASA OIG warned in April 2026 the suit is ~18 months behind schedule and demos could still slip to 2031