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China has revealed the design of the spacesuit its astronauts will wear during the country’s first crewed lunar mission, targeted for 2030. The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) presented the suit on September 28 in Chongqing, southwest China, and launched a public campaign to name it.
A video released by the agency showed a technician wearing the suit and demonstrating its mobility and functionality.
The suit features red stripes inspired by the “flying apsaras” ribbons in Dunhuang art, marking a distinctive design element. It is described as an upgraded version of China’s Feitian Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) spacesuit but lighter and more flexible. This design enables astronauts to maneuver effectively in the moon’s low-gravity environment.
In the video, the technician performed tasks such as climbing stairs, bending, and squatting, highlighting the suit’s ability to accommodate a wide range of human movements.
According to Spacenews, the suit is engineered to handle the moon’s extreme conditions, including vacuum, low gravity, regolith and lunar dust, steep terrain, and temperature extremes. It also includes a helmet-mounted camera for a first-person view and protective layers against high radiation levels.
China’s broader goal is to put astronauts on the lunar surface by 2030, which would make it the second nation after the United States to achieve a crewed moon landing. NASA, through its Artemis program, aims to send astronauts back to the moon as early as 2026.
Meanwhile, NASA’s spacesuit contractor, Axiom Space, is facing challenges. The company, which was tasked with designing advanced spacesuits capable of recycling water from astronauts’ urine, is reportedly struggling with a cash flow crisis. Forbes reported that Axiom has laid off more than 100 employees and cut salaries for others, raising questions about its ability to deliver the new suits on schedule.