Artemis moon landing could face long delay while NASA waits for next-generation spacesuits

NASA's next-generation spacesuits still aren't ready, and the delay could push back the Artemis moon landings by more than three years, an audit report claims.

The new report by the NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that design and testing delays in line with recent historical averages will mean that demonstrations of the Artemis spacesuits, provided by private contractor Axiom Space, won't occur until 2031. NASA is supposed to be sending humans to the moon in 2028.

And the space agency can't do the planned missions without new lunar suits. NASA's more than 50-year-old Apollo suits aren't suitable, and the current International Space Station (ISS) spacesuits are also due a major redesign, because they carry "significant safety risks," according to the report.

The OIG found that NASA's acquisition strategy hindered the success of its spacesuit providers, while its spacesuit schedule was overconfident.

"We found that the original demonstration schedules were overly optimistic and unrealistic," Deanna Lee, the audit assistant director at the NASA Office of Inspector General, said in a video statement. "In fact, both suits are at least a year and a half behind schedule."

This will likely lead to future moon missions being delayed. "Although NASA is taking proactive steps to enable Axiom's success, it may be forced to significantly adjust the Artemis timeline if Axiom cannot meet the Agency's needs," she added.

Axiom Space is currently NASA's sole spacesuit provider. Jonathan Cirtain, the CEO and president of Axiom Space, said that Axiom Space welcomed the review and was committed to delivering next-generation spacesuits on time.

"Our focus remains on delivering a safe, capable spacesuit that enables American astronauts to return to and explore the lunar surface in 2028," Cirtain told Live Science in an emailed statement.

NASA has its sights on two crewed landing missions in 2028, with the Artemis IV and Artemis V missions. The Artemis program is already behind schedule and over budget — NASA had originally planned to be back on the moon by now. On the flip side, the agency has demonstrated that it's still capable of sending humans on a trip around the moon with its historic Artemis II mission.

Why NASA needs new spacesuits

NASA has been trying to acquire new spacesuits since 2007. These efforts have included several in-house attempts and separate efforts with external contractors. In 2022, NASA awarded contracts worth over $3 billion to Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace to develop suits that the agency would then rent for missions.

In 2024, Collins backed out of its spacesuit contract, with NASA citing an inability to meet the agreed schedule. That left NASA reliant on Axiom to produce two new suit types — one for the ISS and another for lunar landings.

The new Artemis suits need to communicate with various Artemis systems, including the Human Landing System (contracted to SpaceX and Blue Origin, and facing its own delay and crew safety risks).

The Apollo mission suits had various modifications to make them suitable for the lunar surface, including protective gloves and boots to guard against sharp rocks and dust. But those Apollo-era suits were custom-fitted for their wearers, are outdated and weren't designed for long-term durability, meaning they won't work for the Artemis astronauts, according to the report.

The Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuits that NASA uses for ISS spacewalks, meanwhile, were designed for the Space Shuttle program. These suits have been good for more than 200 spacewalks but haven't undergone a major redesign in the last 20 years. They also have design flaws, such as water leaking into the helmet and issues with thermal regulation.

The report noted that if Axiom cannot meet its obligation to produce new spacesuits, then astronauts may have to keep using the "problematic" EMUs until the end of the ISS's lifespan, scheduled for 2030.

NASA could begin accepting spacesuit bids from other contractors at any time, with the report noting that multiple other companies are developing spacesuit capabilities that could compete with Axiom, including SpaceX. However, for the time being, NASA officials don't think that will help, according to the report

In the meantime, the space agency is identifying potential supply chain issues, ramping up its spacesuit testing and collaborating more widely with other government agencies.

The geopolitical stakes behind the delay are high. If NASA doesn't have the suits until 2031, then China could return humans to the moon before the U.S. Both countries are planning to establish a permanent presence on the moon's South Pole as part of a new space race, with China targeting a moon landing before 2030. Nonetheless, NASA administrator Jared Isaacman remains bullish.

"I am confident that when NASA is ready to land on the Moon in 2028, our astronauts will be wearing Axiom suits," Isaacman wrote on the social platform X on Monday (April 20).