NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk completed a seven-hour, 11-minute spacewalk on October 29, 2026, marking the 100th U.S. spacewalk from the International Space Station by installing and deploying a new roll-out solar array.
The excursion outside the orbiting laboratory began as Menon rode the Canadarm2 robotic arm, carrying the rolled-up hardware to the station’s port-side truss structure. Meanwhile, Kutryk moved along the station’s exterior tethered to the truss. Working through the alternating darkness and sunshine of low Earth orbit, the pair attached the equipment to the station’s 2A electrical power channel and released its tension bolts. The solar panel then unfurled from its rolled-up configuration on its own over about 10 minutes.
Station Power Capacity Expands
The newly installed hardware is the seventh International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array added to the complex.
According to Gaurang Patel, operations integration manager for NASA’s Low Earth Orbit Program, the roll-out panels are designed to increase available electrical generation capacity by up to 30 percent. Once the final array is online, the upgrades will raise the station’s total capacity from 160 kilowatts to approximately 215 kilowatts.
The additional power will support critical operations, including life support equipment, communications, temperature regulation, scientific instruments, and a safe and controlled deorbit.
These new panels supplement the station’s older panels, which have gradually lost generating capability after decades in the harsh space environment.
Astronauts Reach Personal Milestones
The mission marked the 285th spacewalk dedicated to space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades since construction began.
For Menon, the excursion was his fourth career spacewalk, bringing his total spacewalking time to 26 hours and 31 minutes.
For Kutryk, who arrived at the station on October 1 aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, it was his first time operating in the vacuum of space. That made him the fifth Canadian astronaut to perform a spacewalk and the first since David Saint-Jaques in 2019.
Inside the station, NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney operated the Canadarm2 robotic arm, while teams at the Robotics Mission Control Centre in Longueuil, Quebec, monitored operations in real time.
Following the walk, fellow Crew 13 members Luke Delaney and Jessica Watkins helped Kutryk and Menon out of their equipment and checked their biomedical data.
Final Installation Scheduled for November
During the excursion, Menon and Kutryk also completed several preliminary get-ahead tasks to streamline the upcoming final installation.
NASA has scheduled the next spacewalk for Thursday, November 5.
During that session, the crew will install the eighth and final roll-out array on the station’s 3B power channel to complete the multi-year power augmentation project.
Earlier coverage: Astronauts Install New Solar Array During Space Station Spacewalk