NÅVA SPACE x FORTIS: DEVELOPING FOR THE NEXT MOON MISSION

Fortis and Norwegian space technology company Nåva Space are working together on something unusual: integrating a mechanical watch directly into a next-generation space suit developed for future missions beyond Earth. The watch chosen for the project is the Novonaut.

A WATCH BECOMES PART OF THE SUIT

A mechanical watch has accompanied astronauts for decades. Nåva Space is taking that idea further.

The Norwegian company is developing a new generation of space suits for future exploration, including missions to the Moon. As part of this work, the Fortis Novonaut is being integrated directly into the suit.

The idea is straightforward. Critical information needs to remain accessible in demanding environments. The Novonaut provides an independent mechanical time reference that does not rely on the suit’s electronic systems or an external power source.

It becomes part of the equipment.

WHY THE NOVONAUT?

The Novonaut was developed from decades of Fortis involvement in spaceflight and testing.

Its origins reach back to the Official Cosmonauts watches worn during missions and extended stays aboard space stations. Today, that history continues through a modern chronograph developed around legibility, robustness and mechanical reliability.

At its centre is the Fortis Werk 17, a column-wheel chronograph movement developed specifically for the demands of the Novonaut generation.

Werk 17 has already left the laboratory behind. Its testing programme has included a stratospheric balloon mission with the Swedish Space Corporation followed by a rocket mission, exposing the movement to conditions far removed from conventional watch testing.

The collaboration with Nåva Space is the next step.

DEVELOPING FOR THE MOON

A lunar environment changes the requirements of almost everything humans wear and use.

Bulky gloves affect operation. Light conditions vary dramatically. Equipment must remain readable and accessible while becoming part of a much larger system designed around the astronaut.

This is why the Novonaut is being tested as an integrated component rather than simply worn conventionally on the wrist.

Together, Fortis and Nåva Space are studying how a mechanical chronograph can function within the suit itself, where positioning, accessibility and readability become part of its practical role.

The result brings watchmaking and space-suit development unusually close together.

MECHANICAL BACKUP

Modern space exploration depends on electronics. A mechanical watch offers something fundamentally different.

It stores and measures time mechanically. It requires no connection to the suit, no software and no electrical supply from the spacecraft.

Integrated into the Nåva Space suit, the Novonaut can therefore provide an independent reference for elapsed time and mission timing.

It is a simple principle, which is precisely why it remains relevant.

TESTED IN THE DARK

Development also means testing the combination under conditions that reproduce specific challenges astronauts may encounter.

Visibility is one of them.

Fortis and Nåva Space are testing the Novonaut together with the suit in darkness and low-light environments, examining how quickly and clearly information can be read when conventional lighting disappears.

For a mechanical watch intended for space, luminosity is more than a visual characteristic. It has a functional job.

FROM GRENCHEN TO SPACE

Fortis has been connected to human spaceflight for more than three decades. Nåva Space is working on what astronauts may wear next.

Bringing the two together creates an unusual development project: a Swiss mechanical chronograph integrated into a Norwegian next-generation space suit and developed with future lunar exploration in mind.

For Fortis, the project continues a familiar approach. Build the watch. Test it beyond normal conditions. Learn from what happens next.

The Novonaut was created as a space watch.

Now it is becoming part of the suit.