The astronaut suit that sportsmen like on earth

Designing for aerospace with feet firmly planted on the ground. Thus Rea Space, specialising in space clothing, has designed a suit to reduce the negative effects of microgravity on astronauts, but also transfers this technology to completely different fields such as sport, medical equipment and aeronautics. Rea Space is a start-up born in 2022, which grew up with Takeoff Accelerator at the Ogr in Turin, then developed with the Esa-Bic incubator. Today, it has a headquarters in Puglia and an operational office in Turin. The entrepreneurial project, launched by four partners, is the brainchild of CEO Flavio Augusto Gentile: a top-level sportsman and then athletic trainer, he has transferred his passion for sport into his work.

EMSi is a prototype being tested, the first intra-vehicular suit composed of a system of sensors, electrodes and a hi-tech fabric capable of simulating the effect of gravity on astronauts' bodies, thus reducing the consequences of being in space. In January, the first test in space, in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency and the Italian Air Force as part of Axiom Space's Ax-3 mission aboard Space X's Falcon 9 launcher on its way to the International Space Station. "Using an electronic control system, we collected data on the microgravity movements of Colonel Walter Villadei during the crew dragon flight," explains Giorgia Manca, head of growth strategies for REA Space. EMSi has already received recognition from the ADI Design Index and the Compasso d'Oro award, but the journey to market is a long one, much longer than any terrestrial product, not least because of the conditions under which the technologies have to be tested. "It will take another mission to test EMSi in its full configuration.

The company - which was born with the capital of the four founding partners, the support of the accelerators that promoted it, and other public funds including those of the Italian Space Agency - has studied a parallel growth strategy capable of generating revenues in a shorter time and thus also financing development and research in the space field. Thus, for example, Hercules was born, a technology applicable to the sports world - similar to that designed for space - but intended for athletes, capable of monitoring muscle movements, suggesting strategies to improve performance and reduce injuries. This ability to apply its technology to different sectors has earned the company funding from ESA Spark Funding, a fund managed by STAM, made available by the European Space Agency, in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency, to finance feasibility studies and projects, promoting technology transfer between space and non-space sectors. The same sensors may also find applications in the world of medical products. 'For the future, we are working in these two directions: on the one hand in space mode with which we are designing new products to improve existing technologies or fill market gaps, and on the other hand the development of products for terrestrial use,' Manca continues. Thus, the design of a suit to be worn under extra-vehicular units to improve the cooling system of astronauts may not be very different from the technology used to improve the ventilation of formula one drivers' suits.