Hi everybody, welcome back to the show.
This is where we talk about everything that merges
technology, entrepreneurship, space and the final frontier.
And in today's episode, we're going to explore a fascinating
collaboration between fashion and space exploration.
Prada, the Italian luxury fashion house, has teamed up
with Axiom Space to design lunar space suits for NASA's upcoming
Artemis 3 mission. This mission aims to send humans
to the moon in 2025 aboard a SpaceX Starship rocket, and this
will include the first woman to walk on the lunar surface.
Now it seems fashion and space exploration have found common
ground. Prada recently announced their
partnership with Axiom Space to design spacesuits for NASA's
Artemis missions. Now this is going to happen in
2025 and the mission is historic in many ways.
Not only does it mark humanity's return to the moon after more
than 50 years, but it also includes plans for new people to
step on the moon, including the first woman.
Now, Lorenzo Bertelli, Prada's group Marketing director, spoke
enthusiastically about the collaboration and according to
Bertelli, the ethos of Prada aligned seamlessly with the
adventurous spirit required to venture into new realms like
space exploration. Now the company intends to
leverage its decades long experience and experimentation,
cutting edge technology, fabrics and design expertise for this
project. Axiom Space, for their part, has
been vested with the responsibility of developing
space infrastructure from NASA's Artemis 3 mission, and in a
statement, Axiom CEO Michael sufred, me plotted Pradas
prowess with raw materials and manufacturing techniques as key
to creating a comfortable yet functional spacesuit.
Now As for the spacesuits themselves, specifics are still
under wraps, but indications are there that Prada will build upon
a prototype previously released by Axiom.
Last year, Axiom secured a $228 million contract to design these
suits as part of a larger $1.3 billion package focused on the
2025 mission. Now these aren't just any
spacesuits, they come equipped with joints designed to offer
more flexibility than those worn during the Apollo missions.
The suits are also expected to feature built in HD cameras,
allowing a real time connection back to Earth.
The overall aim is to offer astronauts an enhanced ability
to explore the lunar surface and conduct scientific
experimentation. Now, this isn't the first time a
company traditionally focused on fashion has ventured into
spacesuit design, though. If you look back to the Apollo
11 mission, you'll find that International Latex Corporation,
more famous for designing Playtex bras and girdles, was
tasked with creating the suits for Neil Armstrong and Buzz
Aldrin. Now these suits were complex and
very expensive, comprising 21 layers of various materials like
synthetics, neoprene rubber, and metalized polyester films, and
they cost a staggering $100,000 each.
At that time, Neil Armstrong himself no to the effectiveness
and reliability of the suit he wore.
In a letter to NASA, Armstrong highlighted not just the suits
photogenic qualities, but its ability to function flawlessly
in the harsh conditions of space.
Prada's history with design and technology is more nuanced than
one might initially consider. The company's involvement in
sailing through the Luna Rasa Challenge for the America's Cup
has given them unique insights into material science and high
stress engineering. As Lorenzo Botelli, Prada's
group's marketing director, highlighted, they're going to
transfer that wealth of knowledge to the development of
these lunar suits. It's an incredible leap from sea
to space, but one that Prada is uniquely positioned to make.
And on the flip side, NASA has been pushing the envelope and
human space exploration since its inception, and though it's
Artemis 3 mission is monumental planning to send the first woman
in person of color to the moon, the agency recognizes that suits
are critical technology. They've got a history, too, of
legacy, of working with unexpected partners.
So NASA teaming up with a high fashion brand like Prada isn't
as farfeshed as it seems. Axiom Space is the glue that
binds these two Titans together. Founded in 2016, the company is
in the business of making space accessible not just for
astronauts but also to private citizens.
And Axiom has its own plans beyond NASA's missions to build
a commercial space station. And the suits develop in
collaboration with Prada, will find their use not only on the
moon but also in future space walks from Axiom's own orbiting
platform. It's a multifaceted partnership
1 where each player brings something irreplaceable to the
table. So what's next in this high
stakes, high fashion space venture?
Axiom Space is not just stopping at designing suits in the US for
NASA. The company is also planning to
launch the first segment of its commercial space station in
2026. Now, this move could eventually
see the Prada design suits adapted to this new commercial
space station for commercial space walks for regular people,
pedestrians like you and me. It's clear that the partnership
between these two is more than just the static, it's also
pushing the boundaries of what's possible between fabrics and
fashion and space exploration. And it unites seemingly
disparate worlds. Prada and Axiom are charting
course for the future, one that promises to be as stylish as it
is ambitious. Now, thank you so much for
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