NASA Confirms Final Two ISS Solar Array Spacewalks to Complete Station Power Upgrade
NASA held a public briefing on October 20 announcing two spacewalks — scheduled for October 29 and November 5 — that will install the eighth and final pair of roll-out solar arrays, completing a years-long power upgrade of the International Space Station.
NASA hosted a media briefing on 20 October 2026 at Johnson Space Center to preview two upcoming spacewalks that will close out the International Space Station's multi-year electrical power augmentation programme. Flight engineers Anil Menon of NASA and Joshua Kutryk of the Canadian Space Agency will conduct both excursions. On October 29, the pair will install a Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA) on the port side of the station's truss structure; on November 5, they will install the eighth and final iROSA on the starboard side. The iROSA programme was designed to boost the station's power generation capacity, which has declined as its original solar arrays aged over more than two decades in orbit. This week, Menon and Kutryk have been checking and maintaining spacesuits and preparing tools for the upcoming exits. Simultaneously, the Expedition 75 crew is conducting cutting-edge biomedical research: astronaut Jessica Watkins set up equipment in the Columbus laboratory to 3D-print blood vessels from patient cells affected by a rapid-ageing genetic disorder, while Luke Delaney is testing portable biological sample analysis hardware that could enable real-time health monitoring in space. The final solar arrays will give the station enough power to support expanded crew activities and experiments through the remainder of its planned operational life.
