NASA Astronauts Will Wear Prada Spacesuits During 2026 Artemis Moon Mission: See the Photos!

• Axiom Space announced on Wednesday, Oct. 16, that it has partnered with Prada to create the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit, which will be used for NASA’s Artemis III mission
• The white spacesuit, which has streaks of gray and red, has a suit control interface with biometric monitoring, custom-made gloves and boots engineered to “withstand lunar temperatures and rough terrain,” among other features
• Axiom Space said the AxEMU space suit is “nearing the final development stage” and has already “undergone extensive testing” while underwater “to simulate the lunar environment”

NASA’s astronauts will be landing on the moon in style for its latest mission!

Axiom Space, a Houston-based company that arranges missions for “private and national astronauts,” announced on Wednesday, Oct. 16, that it has partnered with Prada to create the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit, which will be used for NASA’s Artemis III mission.

The white spacesuit, which has streaks of gray and red, has a suit control interface with biometric monitoring, custom-made gloves and boots engineered to “withstand lunar temperatures and rough terrain,” according to the press release. It also features a helmet and visor to “enhance the astronauts’ view of their surroundings,” along with an HD camera, lights and advanced 4G/LTE communication. 

Another important feature of the suit is its square pack on the back, which is designed to help astronauts “withstand extreme temperatures” in shadowed regions of the moon “for at least two hours” — something astronauts will likely be using as they explore the shaded lunar South Pole during the mission. 

It will also “keep astronauts safe for up to 8 hours” while spacewalking and is “adaptable for missions on the lunar surface and in low-Earth orbit,” per the release. In addition to that, the suit has a “regenerable C02 scrubbing system” and “cooling technology to remove heat from the system.”

“Our elite teams have redefined spacesuit development, establishing new pathways to innovative solutions and applying a state-of-the-art design approach for the AxEMU,” Axiom Space President said in a statement in the release. 

“We have broken the mold,” he added. “The Axiom Space-Prada partnership has set a new foundational model for cross-industry collaboration, further expanding what’s possible in commercial space.”

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The company noted that the suits’ design is not only for aesthetic purposes, but for practicality as well, as the suits are designed to provide astronauts with “an increased level of comfort” in addition to improving the suit’s performance.

The company noted that Prada’s “in-depth knowledge and experience on materials and production processes” played a huge role in the development of the “spacesuit cover layer,” and the fashion house also recommended features “that would both protect astronauts against the unique challenges of the lunar environment and visually inspire future space exploration.”

Axiom Space said the AxEMU space suit is “nearing the final development stage” and has already “undergone extensive testing” while underwater “to simulate the lunar environment” at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) and reduced gravity simulations at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

It has also successfully completed a “pressurized simulation,” which is “the first test of its kind since the Apollo era,” with all of Artemis III partners including NASA and SpaceX. Axiom Space said the suit will continue to “undergo testing” with “crewed underwater tests” and “integrated tests with the Artemis Lunar Terrain Vehicle prototypes” before entering the “critical design review phase” next year.

Artemis III is scheduled to launch in 2026 following two Artemis test missions, and “will mark humanity’s first return to the lunar surface in more than 50 years,” according to NASA. The mission will be the first time humans explore the moon’s South Pole, and will also set up future missions when NASA and its partners assemble the Gateway lunar space station.