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Italian fashion house Prada and Houston-based startup Axiom Space have revealed the design of NASA’s next-generation lunar spacesuit. The announcement was made at the International Astronautical Congress in Milan, where the companies showcased the suit that will be worn by the first woman and the first person of color to land on the Moon during the Artemis III mission, planned for late 2026.
The new suit, built for both durability and mobility, has been engineered for long-duration spacewalks on the lunar surface. While designed in partnership with Prada, the suit does not feature any logos or fashion embellishments.
Instead, its white material reflects heat and shields astronauts from extreme temperatures and sharp lunar dust. The design includes a cropped torso for mobility and specially made boots to support astronauts working outside for up to eight hours.
Although most of the suit is white, it features red stripes linked to Prada’s Linea Rossa technical line. The brand originally developed the line for its Luna Rossa sailing team in the America’s Cup. In Italian, “Luna Rossa” translates to “Red Moon,” a reference that carries over to the lunar project.
Axiom Space executives described the suit as a mix of engineering, functionality, and design. “We’re blending engineering, science, and art,” said Russell Ralston, the company’s executive vice president, at the press event.
The upgrade comes as human spaceflight enters a new phase. Private missions have already begun testing new capabilities, including tech billionaire Jared Isaacman’s recent spacewalk, the first carried out by a private citizen. As access to space grows, NASA and its partners have stressed the need for equipment that is lighter, more flexible, and safer than the older suits used during previous missions.
The Artemis mission, which will return astronauts to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years, is expected to rely on these new suits to allow diverse crews to live and work more effectively on the lunar surface.
