Lightweight Spacesuit Debuts

The designers unveiled their first suit back in 2010. The new version is lighter and more comfortable, with the nascent market for space tourism in mind. The full pressure IVA suit is designed for orbital and sub-orbital flight and weighs less than 15 pounds. It includes 13 individual adjustment points for sizing, a carbon fiber waist ring, cooling loops for the extremities, an integrated communications port, and detachable high-dexterity gloves.

The current model was four years in the making (and completed, in part, with help from a Kickstarter campaign). The company says it plans to deliver as many as five additional suits this year for the ETC's National Aerospace Training and Research (NASTAR) Center and Zero2infitity, among other potential customers.

NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) project group, meanwhile, is testing its own prototype suits.

Source: Parabolic Arc