Wary of Artemis IV timeline, NASA is changing lunar spacesuit design

担忧“阿尔忒弥斯 4 号”进度，NASA 正在调整月球宇航服设计

NASA has decided to use a simpler spacesuit for its initial missions to the lunar surface, Ars has learned. The agency announced the decision during an internal meeting this week as it seeks to accelerate its program to land humans at the south pole of the Moon as early as 2028. 据 Ars 获悉，NASA 已决定在最初的登月任务中使用更简单的宇航服。该机构在本周的一次内部会议上宣布了这一决定，旨在加速其计划，争取最早在 2028 年将人类送上月球南极。

At the direction of Artemis Program Manager Jeremy Parsons, NASA will work with Axiom Space to develop a “Sortie Suit” variant of the planned spacesuit for the lunar surface. Sources said the Sortie Suit will be used for the initial landing missions flown on landers developed both by SpaceX and Blue Origin. Among the goals of the initiative are to lower the mass of the spacesuit, reduce its complexity, and simplify interfaces between the spacesuits and lunar landers. 在“阿尔忒弥斯”项目经理 Jeremy Parsons 的指导下，NASA 将与 Axiom Space 合作，开发一种用于月球表面的“出击服”（Sortie Suit）变体。消息人士称，这种“出击服”将用于 SpaceX 和蓝色起源（Blue Origin）开发的着陆器所执行的首次着陆任务。该计划的目标包括减轻宇航服重量、降低复杂性，并简化宇航服与月球着陆器之间的接口。

Accelerating Artemis

加速“阿尔忒弥斯”计划

Since arriving at NASA in December 2025, Administrator Jared Isaacman and his team have been reviewing the space agency’s Artemis Program, which had fallen significantly behind schedule. At the time, it appeared increasingly likely that NASA would not return to the Moon before at least 2030 and that this would allow China to reach the lunar surface in advance of NASA’s return. 自 2025 年 12 月上任以来，局长 Jared Isaacman 及其团队一直在审查进度严重滞后的“阿尔忒弥斯”计划。当时，NASA 在 2030 年之前重返月球的可能性越来越小，这可能会让中国先于 NASA 抵达月球表面。

Isaacman has been searching for ways to get Artemis back on track and, with the blessing of Congress, has already made some major changes, including streamlining production of the Space Launch System rocket, canceling the Lunar Gateway to reduce the burden on lunar landers, and working aggressively with SpaceX and Blue Origin to understand their needs and how NASA can help. Isaacman 一直在寻找让“阿尔忒弥斯”计划重回正轨的方法，并在国会的支持下做出了一些重大调整，包括精简太空发射系统（SLS）火箭的生产、取消月球门户（Lunar Gateway）以减轻月球着陆器的负担，并积极与 SpaceX 和蓝色起源合作，了解他们的需求以及 NASA 如何提供帮助。

Less has been publicly reported about NASA’s work with Axiom Space, which, under a spacesuit-as-a-service contract, is the agency’s only current provider of suits for astronauts to venture out onto the lunar surface. This does not mean suits are unimportant, however. For NASA to have a meaningful mission to the lunar surface, it needs more than a spacecraft, a rocket, and a lander—it needs modern spacesuits capable of allowing astronauts to wander around outside, take pictures, and conduct science. 关于 NASA 与 Axiom Space 的合作，公开报道较少。根据“宇航服即服务”合同，Axiom 是目前该机构唯一的月球表面宇航服供应商。但这并不意味着宇航服不重要。对于 NASA 而言，要实现有意义的登月任务，仅有航天器、火箭和着陆器是不够的，还需要现代化的宇航服，让宇航员能够在舱外行走、拍照并进行科学研究。

Slimming down the suit

宇航服“瘦身”

About four years ago, NASA awarded spacesuit development contracts to two providers, Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace. In 2024, after falling behind schedule and presumably because it was having difficulty making the finances work, Collins dropped out, leaving Axiom as the sole provider of suits. Axiom has remained committed to the process, but private sources have expressed concerns about its rate of progress. 大约四年前，NASA 将宇航服开发合同授予了 Axiom Space 和柯林斯航空航天（Collins Aerospace）两家供应商。2024 年，由于进度滞后且推测是财务运作困难，柯林斯退出了项目，Axiom 成为唯一的宇航服供应商。Axiom 一直致力于该项目，但有私人消息来源对其进展速度表示担忧。

We began to get some answers about progress this week during the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel. One of the panel’s members, former astronaut Charlie Precourt, revealed that NASA leadership is meeting with Axiom six days a week, often in person, to address concerns about schedule and performance. Precourt added, “Requirements are being adjusted to reflect near-term mission needs, including shortening the spacesuit certification duration requirements.” 本周在航空航天安全咨询小组会议上，我们开始得到一些关于进展的答案。小组成员之一、前宇航员 Charlie Precourt 透露，NASA 领导层每周与 Axiom 会面六天，通常是面对面交流，以解决进度和性能方面的担忧。Precourt 补充道：“需求正在调整以反映近期的任务需求，包括缩短宇航服认证的持续时间要求。”

Although he did not name the “Sortie Suit,” this now clearly appears to be a reference to a slimmed-down version of Axiom’s AxEMU suit. Ars has reached out to Axiom for comment and will update this story if a response is received. There have been repeated industry rumors that Axiom’s current design is significantly over its mass budget. One reason for this is the requirements NASA initially established for these suits, which the space agency’s inspector general later characterized in a 2024 report as “over-burdensome.” 虽然他没有明确提到“出击服”，但这显然是指 Axiom 的 AxEMU 宇航服的简化版本。Ars 已联系 Axiom 请求置评，如有回复将更新本文。业界一直有传言称，Axiom 目前的设计严重超重。原因之一是 NASA 最初为这些宇航服设定的要求，该机构监察长在 2024 年的一份报告中将其描述为“过于繁重”。

Initial requirements asked … a lot

最初的要求……非常苛刻

Among these challenging requirements, NASA mandated that the lunar spacesuits be capable of six spacewalks over a 6.5-day mission; that even after being stowed in a dormant condition, the suits must still be capable of further spacewalks for a period of 210 days; and have a thermal system capable of not just shedding heat from an astronaut exerting themselves but also operate nominally for at least two hours in an exceptionally cold, permanently shadowed region. 在这些极具挑战性的要求中，NASA 规定月球宇航服必须能够在 6.5 天的任务中进行 6 次太空行走；即使在休眠状态下存放后，宇航服仍必须在 210 天内具备进行后续太空行走的能力；并且其热控系统不仅要能散发宇航员运动产生的热量，还要能在极度寒冷的永久阴影区正常运行至少两小时。

These and many other requirements led Axiom toward a suit design that was complicated, necessitated many layers of protection that drove mass upward, and had a stiffer design that reduced astronaut mobility. The result was a much heavier suit, one that was more difficult to build, was falling behind schedule, and cost more. 这些以及许多其他要求导致 Axiom 的宇航服设计变得复杂，需要多层保护从而增加了重量，且僵硬的设计降低了宇航员的活动能力。结果就是宇航服变得非常沉重，制造难度大，进度滞后，且成本更高。

Essentially, with the “Sortie Suit” design, NASA is seeking to pare back requirements to allow Axiom to develop a suit that is good enough for initial Artemis missions and becomes more capable over time as NASA and Axiom learn about conditions on the surface of the Moon and can fold operational experience into upgrades. Such an approach would better suit NASA’s needs now. 本质上，通过“出击服”设计，NASA 试图削减要求，让 Axiom 开发出一款足以应对“阿尔忒弥斯”初期任务的宇航服，并随着 NASA 和 Axiom 对月球表面环境的了解加深，将操作经验转化为升级，从而逐步提升性能。这种方法更符合 NASA 目前的需求。