Great success for the space suit made in Puglia created by the startup Rea Space, winner of the XXVIII edition of the Compasso d’Oro award in Milan, one of the most important awards in Italian design. The company was born in 2022 from the minds of four founders originally from Bari, Acquaviva delle Fonti and Fasano.
The recognition comes after the success of the Ax-3 mission, in which the Electrical Muscle Simulation (EMSi) spacesuit was tested in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. With the support of the Italian Space Agency, Rea Space has created innovative spacesuits.
An innovative suit
Until today, in fact, it was not yet possible for an astronaut to live prolonged periods in microgravity without suffering consequences which, once he returned to earth, forced him to undergo a difficult rehabilitation process to regain his motor skills. And it was precisely for this purpose that EMSi was born, the first intra-vehicular suit composed of a triple system of sensors, electrodes and fabric capable of generating a muscle contraction equal to that which the astronaut would have on earth, effectively simulating the force of gravity even in its absence.
The idea of the creator
A suit born from an illumination by Flavio Gentile, CEO of Rea Space, during a pandemic afternoon while he was zapping on TV. Gentile would have been taken by surprise by the image of an astronaut just returning from space. Until then, already an expert in the design and production of sportswear, he had been involved in the production of technological costumes for competitive swimming championships. Then, after the lockdown, he reinvented his tailoring skills, putting them at the service of the aerospace sector. And it is precisely by combining functionality and design that he managed, with the creation of him, to earn the prestigious award.
