Axiom Space completed the Critical Design Review for its next-generation spacesuit on Friday moving closer to flight certification.
The Critical Design Review for the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit was conducted at the component level to evaluate engineering drawings, structural analyses, prototype test results, and component packages. Axiom Space announced the milestone in Houston, moving the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit into production and qualification testing ahead of an International Space Station demonstration.
“With the closure of CDR, we’ve delivered the large body of work that provides Axiom Space confidence going into production,” said Tammy Radford, Axiom Space Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services Program Manager.
“This is the kind of milestone that only comes together when everyone brings their best work to the table, and I couldn’t be prouder of this team,” Radford added.
Work on the design review began in the summer of 2025, with initial component and flight support equipment deliveries submitted to NASA before the end of that year. The review required a system-level assessment encompassing whole-suit mass properties and pressure-drop performance across the integrated design.
Qualification testing now follows, incorporating performance checks, thermal vacuum and vibration environmental testing, and life-cycle evaluations. Axiom Space plans to complete assembly of the pressure garment and the Portable Life Support System by early 2027 before conducting certification tests for a launch to the space station.
Progress on the main spacesuit directly supports development of the Sortie suit, designated the AxEMU-S1, which is tailored for short-duration lunar surface excursions during early Artemis missions. NASA recently restructured Axiom’s deliverables under the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services contract to prioritize a streamlined two-and-a-half-hour sortie configuration for the Artemis IV mission, deferring a more complex six-hour exploration suit to mitigate schedule delays.
To keep the Artemis program on track for a targeted crewed moon landing by 2028, NASA scaled back initial performance requirements following warnings from the NASA Office of Inspector General in April 2026 that development timelines could otherwise delay full-capability suit readiness to 2031 and jeopardize U.S. efforts against China’s planned 2030 lunar mission.
The Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services contract initially carried a combined ceiling exceeding $3 billion when NASA selected Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace in 2022.
NASA has dispatched agency technical specialists directly to Axiom’s Houston facilities to provide embedded engineering support, while Italian luxury fashion house Prada remains actively embedded in the development, continuing work on critical thermal and structural garments.
The Sortie suit shares components, supply chains, and testing infrastructure with the primary unit, complementing the AxEMU and giving NASA flexibility in its mission architecture as astronauts return to the Moon.