Under Armour has unveiled a spacesuit “engineered for the masses” in collaboration with Virgin Galactic, a space tourism startup a few months away from its first commercial flight. The companies debuted the “spacewear” collection in a production for media and investors at a skydiving facility near New York City.
The spacewear package includes a base layer, spacesuit, footwear, a training suit and a jacket. The base layer includes bioceramic-infused yarn designed to help move moisture from the skin and promote blood flow to keep the body cool. A limited number of space boots and Virgin Galactic T-shirts will be sold to the public, but the spacesuits will be made specifically to fit Galactic’s individual passengers.
For Under Armour, the spacewear initiative fits into its broader push in selling “performance” gear, such as sweat-wicking shirts and shorts.
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Virgin Galactic’s spacecraft will carry as many as six passengers at a time, along with the two pilots, to the edge of space. The spaceship is dropped from an aircraft at about 40,000 feet before firing its rocket motor. The spacecraft and its passengers then float weightlessly for nearly 10 minutes, before gliding back down to land on Earth. Approximately 600 people have already reserved tickets to ride aboard a Virgin Galactic flight, with tickets costing $250,000 apiece.
“We were able to incorporate the nostalgic elements of the classic spacesuit — not only from past space missions, but also iconic space movies — to redefine the way we think of space apparel moving forward and create something memorable and unlike anything future astronauts have ever seen,” said Nick Cienski, Principal Innovation Apparel Designer at Under Armour in a statement.
