ILC Dover

ILC Dover is a Frederica, Delaware manufacturer of flexible, fabric-based structures for aerospace and defense, with a space heritage spanning from the original Apollo lunar surface suits to modern commercial space station components. Founded in 1947 and spun off from International Latex Corporation (maker of Playtex products), ILC Dover won the NASA contract to manufacture the Apollo A7L pressure suit in the 1960s — the suit worn by every astronaut who walked on the Moon. The company subsequently produced the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) worn on Space Shuttle and ISS EVAs for over four decades.

ILC Dover's core competency is in flexible pressure vessels and softgoods: the combination of pressure-tight bladders, restraint layers, and thermal/micrometeroid protection in sewn and bonded assemblies that can be folded for launch and deployed in space. Beyond suits, this expertise extends to inflatable spacecraft structures including TransHab-derived habitat modules, inflatable airlocks, and deployable decelerators. The company supplied softgoods for the Mars Pathfinder and Mars Exploration Rover airbag landing systems — the giant inflatable bubbles that cushioned rover landings.

For Artemis, ILC Dover supplies components to Axiom Space's next-generation lunar suit (AxEMU) and is developing softgoods for inflatable airlock systems on future lunar Gateway stations. Their work on HALO and other Gateway modules positions them as a critical supplier for NASA's return-to-Moon architecture. ILC Dover also produces ballistic protection, pharmaceutical containment, and chemical-biological protective gear, diversifying revenue while sharing manufacturing processes.