Oceaneering International Joins Collins Aerospace, ILC Dover in Developing NASA’s Next-Gen Spacesuit

Houston-headquartered Oceaneering International announced that its aerospace and defense business unit, Oceaneering Space Systems, has been selected to join a Collins Aerospace-led team to develop next-generation extravehicular spacesuits for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Astronauts will require spacesuits with a range of new technologies for missions as early as 2025 through 2034, Oceaneering said Thursday.

In a statement, Oceaneering said that the space agency has turned to several commercial partners to develop, build and maintain the new spacesuits that astronauts will need as they push further into deep space. Also on Collins’ team is ILC Dover, a company that has decades of experience supplying spacesuits to NASA.

Former astronaut Carl Walz, business development director at OSS, said the spacesuits currently under development will provide a better fit and comfort for the astronauts, increasing their mobility to safely operate on the surface of the moon.

For his part, Rod Larson, president and chief executive officer at Oceaneering, said his company intends to work with its partners to deliver the most capable spacesuit systems possible for missions to the moon and beyond.

Oceaneering explained that next-gen spacesuits are expected to allow astronauts to work outside the International Space Station, explore the lunar surface on Artemis missions and prepare for human missions to Mars. Additionally, the spacesuits are expected to accommodate nearly every astronaut body type, provide added flexibility to allow for increased mission times and be adaptable to evolving technology enhancements as required.

It was explained that NASA separately chose Collins and Axiom Space to develop new spacesuits under the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services contract. The indefinite-deliver/indefinite-quantity deal has a combined maximum potential value of $3.5 billion, according to the space agency.