Space Suits and Liquid Thermal Garments

EXploration Space Suit

Advancing technology with cost-effective, reliable solutions

EXploration Suit (EXS) | Letter
The EXploration Space Suit (EXS) was designed and developed by the C-SAFE team as part of NASA’s Constellation Space Suit System (CSSS) Program. Led by Oceaneering, this team of experts in specialized technologies related to life support and personal mobility in hazardous environments worked to engineer a suit to meet NASA’s stringent requirements.

The EXS is an effective, safe, affordable, and reliable space suit system with a sustainable architecture.

  • Enables easy donning and doffing

  • Provides improved fit for all crew members

  • Simplifies space operations

  • Improves comfort and agility 

  • Reduces logistics requirements

 EXploration Suit Development

To meet NASA’s requirements, we identified three key components and design areas:
oceaneering, OSS, space, suit, shell, torso, EXs


The Pressure
Garment

The EXS pressure garment is a rear-entry suit that enables easy donning and doffing. Featuring an elliptical helmet with a permanent anti-fog coating, the EXS pressure garment operates at pressures from 4.3 psi to 8.3 psi.

The suit’s hybrid upper torso (HyUT) accommodates astronauts of various sizes, and is designed to maximize mobility by including enhanced shoulder joints. Customized sizing provides enhanced mobility and efficiency that reduces risks posed to working astronauts.

oceaneering, OSS, space, LTG, liquid thermal garment, NASA


The Life Support
System (LSS)

The EXS LSS includes state-of-the-art systems technology. Integrated oxygen tanks provide an eight hour nominal extravehicular activity (EVA) capacity and an extra hour of oxygen usable in the event of an emergency. A regenerable system removes carbon dioxide and humidity, while a suit water membrane evaporator (SWME) provides cooling.

The EXS LSS also features an advanced liquid thermal garment (LTG) that increases thermal and cooling comfort for the user. The LTG assists in regulating the wearer’s core temperature, enabling greater endurance in temperature extremes. We developed the LTG after more than 20 years developing similar garments for HazMat, firefighting, medical, aerospace, and diving applications.

oceaneering, space suit, communications, interface, OSS, NASA

Power, Communications, Avionics, and Informatics (PCAI)

The PCAI system provides redundancy and risk reduction with dual, independent power, and data buses with separate batteries. The suit's software-defined radio has S-band and UHF capabilities to support communications, data, and video transfers.

An astronaut can view up to eight lines of data on the system’s multi-page Suit Control Assembly (SCA). The PCAI system also provides the user with mission timeline, procedures, and suit data on an innovative suit display assembly.

Life Support Technology

We have developed advanced life support technologies for NASA since 1989.
Our contributions include cryogenic portable life support systems for lunar and Mars missions. Most recently, we developed a life support system for the Constellation Space Suit System contract with NASA.  The system supplied oxygen, scrubbed CO₂ and humidity, and provided a system for keeping the astronaut comfortable while working in space or on a planetary surface.
We are developing advanced concepts for CO₂ concentration and removal and for wastewater treatment. We are also developing an innovative condensing heat exchanger that uses nano-porous tubes.
Contact Us | Space Suits and Liquid Thermal Garments

Company page Since our founding in the early 1960s, Oceaneering has expanded and grown globally to service several industries such as the offshore energy industry, defense, entertainment, material handling, aerospace, science, and renewable energy industries. In 1964, Mike Hughes and Johnny Johnson formed a Gulf of Mexico diving company called World Wide Divers. The company grew in response to increasing demand for their services and in 1969 merged with two other diving companies to form Oceaneering International, Inc. To solve the toughest challenges, we do things differently, creatively, and smarter. As your trusted partner, our unmatched experience and truly innovative portfolio of technologies and solutions give us the flexibility to adapt and evolve, regardless of market conditions. Our mission is to solve the unsolvable. We thrive by creating industry-changing technically creative solutions for the most complex operational challenges under water, on land, and in space. Our five core values establish a common culture and demonstrate what is most important for us as a company. Since the beginning, the company has transformed from a small regional diving company into a global provider of engineered products and services. Today, we develop products and services for use throughout the lifecycle of an offshore oilfield, from drilling to decommissioning. We operate the world's premier fleet of work class ROVs. Additionally, we are a leader in offshore oilfield maintenance services, umbilicals, subsea hardware, and tooling. We also serve the aerospace, defense, and theme park industries. Underpinning everything we do, safety is not only the foundation of our core values, but it is vital to our unmatched performance record and company culture. The industries we serve are as diverse as they are complex. Whether we are engineering deepwater umbilicals or developing robotics for aerospace applications, the safety and health of our employees, vendors, and customers is an integral part of our day-to-day business. If we are working, then our responsibility is to be working safely. Since our inception in 1964, we have placed a high value on employee safety—from diving services and subsea inspection to vessel-based installation operations. We have and will continue to evolve not only our health, safety, and environmental (HSE) processes, but those of the industries in which we work. Although we have been fatality-free since 1999, our HSE journey goes beyond statistics. As our portfolio of services has grown, we have continued to prioritize and advance our approach to HSE.