In early June, NASA released the bidding results for the new generation of extravehicular spacesuit , with Axiom Aerospace and Collins being shortlisted. This decision triggered a burst of anger among Musk's fans. Because Musk's manned Dragon spacecraft adopts a self-developed new generation of in-vehicle space suits, and is developing a new generation of extra-vehicular space suits based on this.
Why didn’t NASA choose Musk this time?
This is not the actual situation. For this project called "Exploration Extravehicular Activity Service", Musk did not bid at all.
In fact, the "Exploration Extravehicular Activities Service" spacesuit project is not a small business. It is subordinate to NASA's current manned spaceflight overall plan.
NASA now has two areas involving manned flight. The first is of course lunar exploration, and the second is still low-Earth orbit space flight. In fact, NASA has deep technical accumulation in these two fields. But decades have passed since the last time Americans left the lunar surface, and the capabilities of the lunar spacesuits are almost useless.
Near the lunar orbit and on the lunar surface, it has already escaped the protection of the earth's atmosphere. Cosmic rays and high-energy particles will bombard the space suit surface without any obstruction. Therefore, extravehicular space suits for lunar exploration require stronger protective capabilities while ensuring the normal operation of astronauts, whether on the lunar surface or outside the so-called Lunar Gateway space station . Of course, there are more complex requirements on the lunar surface. Although astronauts have a high status, once they land, they are bricklayers in the new era and need to work on earthworks on the lunar surface. The spacesuit needs to accompany them all over the place without leaking air. The difficulty is conceivable.
Where are the space suits from the Trump era?
The development of a new generation of space suits actually started as early as 2007. More than $400 million has been spent so far. To successfully develop it, it will cost at least US$625 million. Considering that the extravehicular spacesuit is equivalent to a one-person spacecraft, this amount of money is not too much. This development work has been making progress. During the Trump administration, NASA launched a sample of the "Exploration Extravehicular Activity Service" spacesuit, and a female engineer took the stage to demonstrate it.
But things have changed during the Biden administration. Due to various bureaucratic issues and insufficient funding, it is no longer possible for the "Extravehicular Activity Service" space suit to catch up with the 2024 node, which is the time set by the Trump administration for manned return to the moon. Of course, "extravehicular activity services" are not the only project that is lagging behind. Everything from rockets, spacecrafts to landers are basically delayed.
Since the American "nation-wide system" doesn't work, then let's find another method suitable for American society. In 2021, NASA officially gave up its own development of "extravehicular activity services" and once again embarked on the path of "it is better to buy than to build, and it is better to rent than to buy". Transfer the relevant technology of space suits to commercial enterprises, and the enterprises will manufacture and maintain them themselves. NASA will rent them from them when needed, just like renting Musk's spacecraft to enter the International Space Station today.
Of course, NASA is not the only tenant. The company that wins the bid can also rent the extravehicular spacesuit to other users. These people can wear the spacesuit and enter the universe, whether to see the scenery or do experiments. Is the Axiom company that won the bid for
a leather company?
Among the two companies that won the bid, Collins Company is a large traditional aerospace contractor in the United States with skilled technology and rich experience. But Axiom is almost a leather company. After it obtained the contract for the commercialization of the International Space Station from NASA, on the one hand it purchased commercial flight services from Space Exploration Technology Company, and on the other hand it ordered new sections of the space station from the European company Thales. . I plan to concentrate on operations. But NASA noted in its winning bid documents that Axiom provided "a strong commercialization plan and detailed private investment strategy." Perhaps this is what NASA values most today.Axiom President and CEO Michael Saffredini publicly stated: "We have many customers who already want to conduct space walks." Among the "many customers", NASA is definitely the largest one. According to the plan, by 2034, NASA’s space suit rentals may reach a cumulative US$3.4 billion.
As for why Musk did not bid, there are currently no public reports. We reasonably speculate that this amount of money may be too little for Musk today. If we only discuss the field of manned spaceflight, Musk's top priority should be to quickly improve the " starship " so that it can carry humans, fly from the earth to the moon, land on the lunar surface, and then return to the moon. Take off and dock with the Lunar Gateway Space Station. The research and development funds and operating funds involved are much more than those for space suits. You know, just for the transformation of the starship into a lunar landing spacecraft, Musk received a development contract of US$2.9 billion, not including subsequent operating expenses.
No data has been released yet on how much one piece of "Extravehicular Activity Service" costs, or how much it costs to wear it once. But by the end of June, NASA had not provided even a penny to the two winning bidders.
