Spacewalk suits are decades old. NASA just canceled plans for new ones due

By Jackie Wattles, CNN

(CNN) — The iconic puffy white suits that astronauts have donned for decades as they step outside the International Space Station are rapidly aging — but NASA is now without concrete plans to replace them.

The space agency announced Wednesday that it’s abandoning contracts worth more than $100 million with Collins Aerospace — a division of RTX Corporation, formerly known as Raytheon Technologies, and a longtime NASA partner — to develop next-generation spacesuits.

Collins and the space agency “mutually agreed” to end the deal, which had committed the company to deliver the spacesuits by 2026, according to NASA.

“This action was agreed upon after Collins recognized its development timeline would not support the space station’s schedule and NASA’s mission objectives,” NASA said in a blog post.

Collins did not immediately reply to a request for comment Thursday morning.

Astronauts currently wear spacesuits — called Extravehicular Activity, or EVA, suits — designed more than 40 years ago when conducting spacewalks.

Earlier this week, NASA abandoned plans to remove a faulty electronics box outside the space station because an EVA suit worn by astronaut Tracy Dyson sprung a leak. The issue affected the spacesuit’s cooling unit, which keeps astronauts at a comfortable temperature as they work.

It’s not yet clear how or whether NASA will renew or replace plans to develop a new generation of EVA suits for the space station.

One other company, Houston-based Axiom Space, has a NASA contract worth up to nearly $230 million to develop new spacesuits under the same program that Collins had operated. But Axiom’s outfits are designed to be worn on the moon.

NASA did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether Axiom’s suits may be repurposed for use on the space station.

SpaceX, another key NASA partner that provides astronaut transportation to and from the International Space Station, is also developing an EVA suit of its own.

But those plans focus on providing protection for four astronauts on a mission dubbed Polaris Dawn, an all-private endeavor bankrolled by finance billionaire Jared Isaacman that could take off as soon as this summer. Polaris Dawn could mark the first spacewalk conducted by a private company and a citizen astronaut.

SpaceX unveiled the designs for its EVA suits in May.

SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment about whether NASA has reviewed those spacesuit designs or considered them for use at the International Space Station. The Elon Musk-led company does not typically respond to inquiries from news organizations.

NASA plans to retire the space station sometime within the next several years. In a separate news release detailing plans to destroy the space station when it retires, the federal agency noted that it is committed to continuing space station operations through 2030. But Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, has only guaranteed its participation through “at least 2028.”

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