OREANDA-NEWS. Research and Development Production Enterprise “Zvezda”, a Russian manufacturer of life-support systems for high-altitude flight and human spaceflight, plans in 2019 to start developing a new modular spacesuit for cosmonauts.

The head and chief designer of “Zvezda” Sergey Pozdnyakov said that a proposal for a new spacesuit is being prepared, and in 2019 they should definite the outlook of a new device and start working. He also mentioned that the contract will be most probably signed with Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation “Energia”, a well-known Russian manufacturer of ballistic missile, spacecraft and space station components.

Pozdnyakov said that new spacesuit will be universal. It means that it can be used both when going to outer space from the International Space Station (ISS) and landing on the Moon, though for landing it will require some equipment transformation.

“The hard torso for landing on the Moon should be shortened; possibly, its entry will be altered. The torso assembly covering the legs is the most important thing as mobility should be very high. But the spacesuit’s basic concept remains the same," the chief designer explained.

By the plan of “Zvezda”, the development of the spacesuit will take several years.

From 2018, Russian crew members of the ISS have been going to outer space using the “Orlan-MKS” spacesuit, designed and built by “Zvezda” in 2009. The “Orlan-MKS” has many advantages, such as a new internal hermetic cover made of high-tech long-lived fabric and a new automated water cooling system that provides the comfortable temperature for a cosmonaut, but it does not suit for using on the surfaces of planets.