The Challenge: A Moon Suit for the First Time in 50+ Years

NASA hasn't put humans on the moon since Apollo 17 in December 1972. That's over 50 years ago. The spacesuits astronauts wear on the International Space Station today are relics from that era—never designed for lunar surface operations, and frankly, too old to be trusted with a moon mission.

The agency decided early on: new spacesuits were needed. But development has been messy, with setbacks and delays that a newly released Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report has highlighted in uncomfortable detail.

The Bad News and the Good News

The OIG report, released April 20, suggested delays could push moon landing readiness back to 2031—three years past the Trump administration's current deadline of 2028. The problem: NASA's original contractor (Collins Aerospace) backed out after two years, leaving Axiom Space as the sole next-generation suit provider. Axiom itself has faced delays in developing modular suits that can be adapted for both lunar and microgravity environments.

But here's where the story takes an interesting turn. Newly appointed NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman says he's confident the moon suits will be ready by 2028. In a post-report statement, he said: "I am confident that when NASA is ready to land on the moon in 2028, our astronauts will be wearing Axiom suits."

The New Strategy

Instead of waiting for perfection, NASA is pivoting. Rather than expecting moon suit demonstrations on the lunar surface in 2028 and in orbit in 2030, the agency now plans a critical test in Earth orbit in 2027—either on the ISS or during Artemis 3 itself.

Axiom CEO Jonathan Cirtain echoed the confidence, saying the company is "working toward in-space, spacesuit evaluation demonstrations in 2027" and remains "actively engaged with NASA." The critical design review is expected later this year.

Learning from Mistakes

The OIG report criticized NASA's contracting approach—particularly the use of fixed-price service models on a developmental program inherently riddled with technical risk. NASA is taking note. The agency plans to:

• Rebuild in-house technical competencies through a new "NASA Force" initiative
• Evaluate contractor performance more rigorously with better civil servant oversight
• Aim for Artemis launches every 10 months rather than every few years
• Consider how sustainably companies can operate as the only customer in an emerging market

It's a recognition that sometimes, government needs to be more hands-on with critical, one-of-a-kind development work.

The Stakes

This matters because New Glenn, Blue Origin's new heavy-lift rocket, is supposed to launch the first test of Blue Moon—one of NASA's contracted crewed lunar landers—later this year. Artemis 4 (if it stays on schedule) would be the actual landing mission. The spacesuits have to be ready.

Are they? Isaacman and Axiom say yes. The OIG report suggests it's tight. Either way, the next 18 months will tell us whether 2028 is a realistic goal or a hope.

Source: Space.com