Prada helps unveil next-generation lunar spacesuit for NASA moon missions

The Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment (LCVG) is designed to keep astronauts cool and protected from harsh lunar conditions.

Space travel has just become a little more stylish.

Prada unveiled a new garment that will be worn by NASA astronauts, including members of the Artemis IV mission scheduled for 2028, the first humans on the moon in more than 50 years. The Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment (LCVG), an inner layer suit, is designed to protect astronauts from radiation and wild temperature swings while they explore the moon. 

Developed through 3D modeling, the LCVG circulates cold water through a network of tubes routed across major muscle groups, helping astronauts stay cool during spacewalks that can last up to eight hours. The suit absorbs and carries the heat away using its portable life support system, which then releases it into space.

According to the release, the LCVG also has another set of tubes that deliver oxygen across an astronaut's face, washing away exhaled carbon dioxide before recirculating oxygen. This supports their breathing.

The garment will be worn inside the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) spacesuit, a new spacesuit built for exploring the moon. It can also be worn multiple times for long-duration missions, according to Axiom Space.

The new product stems from a partnership between Prada and Axiom Space, a Houston-based private company developing space infrastructure and flying private human spaceflight missions. The release of the LCVG follows Axiom and Prada’s 2024 announcement of AxEMU’s outer layer.

Axiom leaders said the two companies’ combined strengths resulted in an innovative product. 

“Every minute astronauts spend outside their vehicle, the LCVG is working to keep them safe,” Axiom Space Senior Vice President of Spacecraft Development Russell Ralston said in a statement. “The work we have done with Prada has taken that capability to a level we could not have achieved alone.” 

First planetary spacesuits since Apollo program

Prada and Axiom first teamed up in October 2023, when both companies announced their collaboration on NASA’s lunar spacesuits.

The new spacesuits designed for the Artemis program are the first full-mobility planetary spacesuits since the Apollo astronauts last walked on the moon. The last major update on spacesuits worn by American and European astronauts was in 1978, according to a 2021 report by NASA's Office of Inspector General.

While astronauts have been living and working in space for on the International Space Station for more than 25 years, they haven't needed spacesuits like the ones that will be required for establishing moon bases on the lunar surface.

The Axiom Space spacesuits are built to help achieve this goal. The design provides greater protection to withstand the harsh elements, as well as more flexibility to help astronauts effortlessly walk on the moon and perform geological tasks.

The first spacesuit developed specifically for space walks was used in 1968 on Apollo 7, per American Scientist. The most popular Apollo spacesuit, the A7LB, was custom made for each astronaut, but it lasted for only one mission. This suit was created to have sufficient upper body mobility, and it helped with walking on the moon and driving the lunar rover.

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