ESA Collaborates With Decathlon To Develop EuroSuit, NASA Uses Preda Design Spacesuit

EuroSuit can be worn or removed without help in less than two minutes (photo: x @CorriereLOGIN)

JAKARTA - The competition between the United States and Europe in the world of space entering a new chapter is not about rocket technology, but about fashion. When NASA collaborated with Prada's luxury fashion house to design the latest generation spacesuit, the astronauts of the European Space Agency (ESA) actually wore uniforms from a much more grounded brand: Decathlon.

The sports retail company known for its affordable products announced the creation of an intra-vehicular activity (IVA) spacesuit prototype called EuroSuit, designed to be used in critical phases of missions such as launch and landing. Designed with dark gray colors, EuroSuit can be worn or removed unaided in less than two minutes a new breakthrough in the IVA category.

The Spacesuit will be tested by ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot on her mission to the International Space Station (ISS) next year. Decathlon calls this project proof that sports equipment innovation can be applied to extreme environments such as spaceflight.

The EuroSuit prototype features a number of new technologies, including lattice-structured helmet designs to accurately adjust the shape of astronauts' heads, as well as bellys (flexible folding mechanisms) on the shoulders, elbows, and knees to give maximum mobility in narrow spaces. An air-tight short circuit with ergonomic attractors facilitates use, while the length of the suit can be adjusted following changes in the height of astronauts that occur naturally in microgravity.

While on the ISS, Adenot will conduct a series of tests ranging from wearing a suit independently, manipulating small objects, using a touchscreen tablet, to removing thesuit. The inputs obtained will be used to develop a full operational version of the EuroSuit, which will include an airproof sealing system, fire resistance, atmospheric control, internal communication systems, to head-up display interfaces.

According to Sébastien Haquet, Head of Advanced Innovation Decathlon, EuroSuit is proof of the company's ability to bring product and textile design expertise to the extremes. The creation of thissuit involves collaboration with the French space agency CNES, startupATAN Space, and the Institute of Space Medicine and Physiology.

Meanwhile, on the other hand of the Atlantic, NASA is collaborating with Prada's well-known fashion home to design their new spacesuit component, the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU). The Spacesuit was developed with Axiom Space and will be used on the Artemis III mission, which is scheduled to bring humans back to the lunar surface in the first 2026 momentum since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.

Prada, better known for its luxury bags and shoes, contributes in the form of recommendations for special materials, functional features, to sewing techniques to improve the performance of the suit. AxEMU is designed to provide high flexibility for male and female astronauts, as well as allow for up to eight hours of use on the lunar surface.

The thread is also equipped with a variable pressure system, carbon dioxide filtering devices, life-support backpacks, bright white outer layers to reflect heat, as well as advanced protective layers on helmets and visors to improve visibility.

The Prada draft thread is prepared to deal with extreme temperatures at the Moon's south pole including areas that are not permanently exposed to the sun. NASA calls this newsuit an "evolvable, scalable, and adaptable" design for long-term missions on the lunar surface and low-Earth orbits.

With two very different approaches 'NASA' to Prada and ESA's technical luxury with the innovative efficiency of Decathlon' the 'spacefront' competition is now a new part of human exploration competition beyond Earth. But behind these style differences, both EuroSuit and AxEMU both represent big ambitions to bring the best protection for next-generation space explorers.