Cover image: The International Space Station’s solar arrays in an earlier NASA image. This does not show the 29 October 2026 spacewalk. Credit: NASA.
NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk installed and deployed the International Space Station’s seventh roll-out solar array on 29 October 2026, NASA reported after the spacewalk. Their work outside the station lasted seven hours and 11 minutes.
The new arrays supplement the station’s existing solar panels, which supply electricity for research and daily operations. NASA’s explanation of the upgrade says the newer panels travel to orbit rolled up and unfold after installation.
Where was the new array installed?
Menon and Kutryk fitted the array to the station’s 2A electrical power channel. It was the seventh of eight planned roll-out arrays. NASA said this was Menon’s fourth spacewalk and Kutryk’s first.
What is planned next?
The astronauts also prepared for another spacewalk, planned for 5 November, to install the eighth and final array on the 3B power channel. NASA projects that the complete eight-array upgrade could increase available station power by up to 30%. The final installation remains planned, so the full projected gain has not yet been established.
