Spacewalkers Install Final New Solar Array, Finishing ISS Power Upgrade
Astronauts Joshua Kutryk and Anil Menon installed the eighth and final IROSA solar array on November 5, 2026, completing a five-year ISS power upgrade.
Key points
- Astronauts Joshua Kutryk of the Canadian Space Agency and Anil Menon of NASA installed the eighth and final IROSA solar array on the ISS on November 5, 2026.
- The 6-hour, 59-minute spacewalk completed a five-year effort that began with the first new array in June 2021.
- NASA says the eight arrays raise the station's available power by up to 30% to support it until retirement in 2030.
- A low-current reading during the spacewalk was fixed after Kutryk reseated a cable connection.
Two astronauts finished a five-year upgrade of the International Space Station’s power system on Thursday, November 5, 2026, unrolling the last of eight new solar arrays during a nearly seven-hour spacewalk. The new panels are meant to keep the station running through its planned retirement in 2030.
What happened
Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk, 44, and NASA astronaut Anil Menon, 50, switched their spacesuits to battery power at 8:36 a.m. EST to begin the spacewalk, Spaceflight Now reported. They installed and connected the eighth ISS Roll-Out Solar Array, or IROSA, which then unrolled to its full length of 63 feet.
The spacewalk lasted 6 hours and 59 minutes. It was the 286th spacewalk dedicated to station assembly, maintenance and upgrades, the ninth of 2026, and the sixth by members of the current Expedition 75 crew.
Because the final array was too far away for the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to reach, Menon carried it into position by hand. Folded up, the array is about 10 feet long and weighs around 750 pounds on Earth. The pair still finished about 15 minutes ahead of schedule.
A power snag along the way
About four and a half hours in, flight controllers noticed that the newly connected array was delivering only about half the expected electrical current. Mission Control held the deployment for one orbit so Kutryk could check a connector during orbital night, when the panels are in Earth’s shadow.
Kutryk disconnected, inspected and reseated one connection. After the station came back into sunlight, controllers reported good currents, and the deployment went ahead. NASA did not immediately say what caused the low readings.
The array then unrolled in about 10 minutes, driven by energy stored in its carbon-fibre booms.
Five years in the making
The first IROSA was unrolled in June 2021. Six were in place by June 2023, and NASA ordered the final pair that summer. Those last two launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 on October 13, 2026; the seventh was installed during a spacewalk on October 29.
The upgrade is needed because the station’s original solar wings, delivered by the space shuttle between 2000 and 2009, were designed to last 15 years. Each original wing produced about 19 kilowatts when new. The IROSAs, which produce about 8 kilowatts each, are mounted in front of the old wings, partly shading them while their exposed sections keep generating power.
According to NASA, the eight IROSAs together raise the station’s available power by up to 30%.
Why it matters
Power is one of the station’s most important resources. It runs life support, experiments and communications, and the aging original arrays have been slowly losing output. Without the upgrade, NASA and its partners would have had less power available for science in the station’s final years.
The project is also a showcase for roll-out solar array technology, which is lighter and more compact than traditional rigid panels and is now used on other spacecraft.
Menon said the day marked the completion of more than 15 years of development work behind the eight arrays.
What happens next
The ISS is scheduled to retire in 2030, followed by what NASA describes as a safe and controlled deorbit. The next US spacewalks are targeted for early January to upgrade the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a cosmic-ray detector mounted on the station. The upgrade came a day after another long-serving NASA mission ended, when the Swift observatory reentered Earth’s atmosphere.
Frequently asked questions
What is an IROSA?+
IROSA stands for ISS Roll-Out Solar Array. These compact, roll-out panels are installed in front of the station's original solar wings, which were delivered between 2000 and 2009 and designed to last 15 years. Each IROSA produces about 8 kilowatts.
How much power do the new ISS solar arrays add?+
NASA says the eight IROSAs together raise the station's available power by up to 30%, helping keep the ISS running until its planned retirement and controlled deorbit after 2030.
Who carried out the spacewalk?+
Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk and NASA astronaut Anil Menon, members of Expedition 75. It was the ninth spacewalk of 2026.
Sources
- International Space Station
- Spacewalk
- NASA
- Canadian Space Agency
- IROSA
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