A brief history

In the 1950’s and 60’s, NASA began development of a Space Activity Suit (SAS), which promised to replace the bulky gas-bladder suits used by astronauts of the time. SAS designs employed mechanical counterpressure (MCP) against the skin of the astronaut, providing necessary compression under vacuum. While the advantages in mobility and safety of an MCP approach were evident, and the efficacy of full-suit designs was promising, the project was ultimately abandoned by NASA in the 70’s due to material science constraints.

Suits today

In 2026, though the landscape of the space industry has altered greatly, spacesuits have not. Gas-bladder suits are set to be used in IVA/EVA applications on all up-coming space missions, including Artemis III & onward, and yet serious concerns remain about their readiness. At their core is an unchanged technological paradigm acknowledged to be flawed since the 60s. Gas-bladder suits contain breathing gas within a full-body airtight suit that maintains a high pressure; as a result, the suits are bulky, painful to wear for long durations, and incredibly difficult to fabricate, among myriad other issues. An MCP approach to spacesuits remains the obvious and necessary alternative.

Starsuit is at the forefront of today’s MCP development. In recent testing, we demonstrated incredible dexterity and comfort in a suit sleeve at 99.67% vacuum, validating the effectiveness and advantages of our approach. We are currently developing larger scale demonstrators for NASA and scaling our production to full suits that allow astronauts to do more.

The future of spaceflight

Our future in space is bright.

Tens of thousands of humans, alongside millions of robots, will work in space to utilize the resources of the asteroid belt, understand the origins of life and the universe, and eventually help tens of billions of people live throughout the solar system. In the near future, we will empower global communications, accelerate pharmaceutical research, produce exotic materials, and so much more.

This work requires people working at the edge of their capability. This will require MCP spacesuits, not suits that hold us back. Starsuit not only leads in development and manufacturing of MCP suits, but is alone in its class. We look forward to working with researchers, governments, and companies to realize these incredible human feats.