Spacesuit design: João Montenegro

One of the winning designs selected by the jury of ESA’s Space Suit Design Competition. The competition collected ideas from the public on what a future European extra-vehicular activity (EVA) suit could look like. This design was made by João Montenegro.

Taking into account the extreme conditions spacewalk suits must withstand to protect our astronauts, participants were challenged to design a suit that is instantly recognisable for ESA astronauts. Over 90 ideas were received, and an ESA jury of exploration experts reviewed these proposals and ultimately selected five winners:

João explains his design process using artificial intelligence tools: “The design process was inspired by the cultural identities of the countries that are members of ESA, with the goal of creating a suit that reflects the diversity and unity of the Member States. To achieve this, we employed artificial intelligence generated image models to process images and keywords related to each Member State. This process resulted in the identification of dominant colours and shapes, which were then incorporated into the design of the EVA suit. The result is a unique and visually striking suit that celebrates the diversity of the Member States while also providing the functionality and protection required for space exploration. This design symbolises the collective efforts of the countries involved in ESA and their commitment to advancing the boundaries of space exploration.”

João also considered functional elements: “The suit design provides the following: a visual chest display, an articulated neckline to enable agility in head motion, a visual chest display to indicate information to team members, a modular head-mount and fully integrated gloves and boots to avoid regolith infiltration.”

You can find João on Twitter and his website.