A key advancement in the Prada-designed layer is a fully redundant cooling circuit, designed as a backup system that activates instantly if the primary loop fails—adding a new level of astronaut safety in extreme environments…reports Asian Lite News Desk
Italian luxury house Prada has stepped beyond Earth’s runways into deep space design, collaborating with Houston-based Axiom Space to create a high-performance inner layer for NASA’s next-generation lunar spacesuits. The innovation will be worn beneath the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU), the suit planned for NASA’s Artemis III and IV missions.
The mission, currently targeted for 2026, aims to return humans to the Moon for the first time in more than five decades, with a landing planned at the lunar South Pole. While the outer suit focuses on protection from the harsh lunar surface, the newly unveiled “Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment” (LCVG) works closest to the body, acting as a critical life-support layer.
Engineered to regulate extreme body heat during spacewalks lasting up to eight hours, the garment circulates cold water through an intricate network of tubes that run across key muscle groups. This system absorbs and carries away metabolic heat generated during intense physical exertion in microgravity.
A key advancement in the Prada-designed layer is a fully redundant cooling circuit, designed as a backup system that activates instantly if the primary loop fails—adding a new level of astronaut safety in extreme environments.
Beyond temperature control, the garment also supports respiration. A second internal system channels fresh oxygen across the astronaut’s face while simultaneously removing exhaled carbon dioxide, which is then processed through the suit’s life-support mechanisms.
Axiom Space CEO Jonathan Cirtain described the partnership as a model for future exploration, noting that aerospace engineering and luxury craftsmanship combined to produce a garment neither industry could have developed alone.
Prada Group’s Lorenzo Bertelli highlighted the brand’s contribution in design expertise, advanced materials and 3D modelling techniques, which helped refine comfort and performance under prolonged physical strain. “Every minute astronauts spend outside their vehicle, the LCVG is working to keep them safe,” added Axiom Space’s Russell Ralston.
The collaboration follows the 2024 unveiling of the AxEMU outer suit in Milan, marking another step in the merging of high fashion and space technology. As Prada moves from catwalks to cosmos, the project signals a new era where aesthetics, engineering and exploration intersect in unprecedented ways.
