The report also provides some basic comparisons to other spaceflight programs and finds that, based on historical averages, the Axiom spacesuit may not be ready for an Artemis demonstration before 2031—five years from now.

So, are lunar astronauts out of luck?

This all sounds pretty dire, so we did a little digging. In reality, the situation does not appear as grim as what’s outlined in the new report. Yes, it does seem like NASA made some mistakes in procuring the spacesuits “as a service,” especially when there are likely to be no non-NASA customers for these suits for a long time.

However, the space agency has evidently found a good partner in Axiom Space, a Houston-based company also working to develop a commercial space station. Axiom has no guarantees that it will ultimately make money from this project, but it has nevertheless poured resources into the program and hired appropriately to meet its needs. Unlike the traditional space company Collins, Axiom and its investors have been willing to make a long-term bet that its suits will one day be in great demand. If NASA does succeed in building a Moon Base, this bet could pay off big time.

Despite the 2031 date bandied about in the spacesuit report, it appears this is too pessimistic. After the report’s release on Monday, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman replied, “I am confident that when NASA is ready to land on the Moon in 2028, our astronauts will be wearing Axiom suits.”

This is consistent with what two sources have told Ars: that internally the spacesuit program is making good progress and that both Axiom and NASA are putting in the time and resources to push it toward success. Axiom Space chief executive Jonathan Cirtain said Tuesday that Axiom’s suit has logged more than 950 hours of crewed pressurized testing and should complete critical design review this year. Problems can always occur during hardware development programs, of course, but things appear to be on track.

NASA presently plans to fly Artemis III in 2027, during which Orion will dock with one or both lunar lander prototypes in Earth orbit. That mission is likely to carry an Axiom suit for demonstration in microgravity. This would be a precursor mission to a lunar landing in 2028.

At this point, the new report notwithstanding, the Artemis schedule is unlikely to be delayed by spacesuit readiness.