Final Frontier Design

Final Frontier Design is a seed-stage startup company that builds and tests spacesuits.^[1] The company's products both enable, and are enabled by, the more recent lower-cost access to space epitomized by NewSpace launch companies such as SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and XCOR Aerospace.^[2]

FFD was awarded a Phase I SBIR in 2011 and developed pressure garment glove technology under this contract.

In July 2011, Final Frontier Design won third place in the 2011 NewSpace Business Plan Competition in Silicon Valley, sponsored by the Space Frontier Foundation.^[1]

EVA prototype glove with first in the world anthropomorphic fingertips, methacarpal joint and advanced gimbals wrist joint

In December 2014, Final Frontier Design obtained an official Space Act Agreement with NASA.

Company

Final Frontier Design was founded in 2010 ^[3] by "artist and designer" Ted Southern, a former Eyebeam resident,^[4] and his partner Nikolay Moiseev, "a Russian mechanical engineer," with the intent to "craft affordable yet highly capable spacesuits for a burgeoning commercial spaceflight industry."^[5]

FFD Prime suit

Southern is a sculptor and costume designer who has built angel wings for Victoria’s Secret; Moiseev boasts 20 years of experience working as a space suit designer for Zvezda, Russia’s national space suit supplier. They placed second in the Astronaut Glove Challenge 2009, pulling in $100,000 in prize money for their pressurized glove technology.

FFD Second generation space suit

Intra-vehicular activity suit

Final Frontier is developing a low-cost commercial inside-the-spacecraft spacesuit called an Intra-Vehicular Activity suit (IVA) which can be pressurized in the event of an emergency, and is projecting to sell the suit at a price of about a fifth of the NASA cost for its existing line of IVA suits that cost around $250,000 each. With the suit weighing a bit under 15 pounds (6.8 kg)—versus 30 pounds with the NASA suit—could result in economically significant reduction in fuel costs for a flight with a number of astronauts.^[6] Final Frontier Design is building its third-generation spacesuit, according to the NASA flight certification standards. Its improvements over the second-generation spacesuit include the ability to withstand greater operating pressure, a carbon fiber waist ring, a retractable helmet, and improved gloves and glove disconnects.^[7] The pair took to Kickstarter in June 2012 to raise money for the design and construction of a prototype commercial space suit for intra-vehicular travel — meaning activities that take place inside a spacecraft. Final Frontier had raked in more than $27,000 in July 2012 from 386 backers, exceeding their $20,000 fundraising goal. The goal of the Kickstarter project is to prep a third-generation suit to present to NASA for flight certification by 2013.^[8]

Space suit gloves

Final Frontier Design developed, manufactured and tested space suit gloves:

• EVA glove for 4.3 psi (0.3 atm) operating pressure,
• EVA prototype glove for 8 psi (0.54 atm) operating pressure,
• IVA glove for 6 psi (0.4 atm) operating pressure.

All gloves have anthropomorphic fingertips excluding mitigating of nails, metacarpal joints, adjustable palm bar.

References