Working outside the orbiting laboratory, the astronauts installed the new solar array on the station’s 2A electrical power channel and completed additional preparatory tasks ahead of another scheduled spacewalk on November 5. The final installation is expected to complete the solar-array upgrade, increasing the ISS’s available power by up to 30%.
The milestone also marked Menon’s fourth spacewalk and Kutryk’s first.
The spacewalk began at 7:57 am EDT on October 29, when both astronauts switched their spacesuits to battery power and exited the station through its Quest airlock. Menon led the installation operation alongside Kutryk, who moved along the station’s truss structure to reach the designated worksite.
Menon used the Canadarm2 robotic arm to help transport the rolled-up solar array to its installation location on the station’s port-side truss, approximately 260 miles above Earth. The astronauts then carried out the installation and deployment work as part of the ongoing effort to expand the station’s electricity-generating capacity.
The new equipment is part of the International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array (IROSA) system, a compact solar-power technology designed to supplement the station’s original solar panels. Unlike conventional rigid solar panels, IROSAs are rolled up for transportation and unfurl after being installed in orbit.
The technology allows additional solar-generating capacity to be delivered to the station without requiring large structures to be launched in their fully extended form. Once deployed, the arrays collect sunlight and convert it into electricity to power the station’s systems and operations.
The latest installation is part of a wider programme that began in 2021. Six additional roll-out solar arrays had already been installed before the October 29 spacewalk, bringing the total to seven. The eighth and final array is scheduled to be installed during the next spacewalk.
Once all eight IROSAs are operational, the ISS’s electricity-generation capacity is expected to increase from approximately 160 kilowatts to around 215 kilowatts. This represents an improvement of up to 30% in the station’s available power.
The additional electricity will support scientific research, operational systems and other critical activities aboard the station. It is also intended to help meet the power requirements associated with the ISS’s eventual safe and controlled deorbit.
The new arrays are supplementing the station’s original solar panels, whose performance has declined after years of exposure to the harsh conditions of space. Increasing electricity-generation capacity is therefore important to maintaining ISS operations as the station approaches the later stages of its planned service life.
NASA has scheduled another spacewalk for November 5, when Menon and Kutryk are expected to install and deploy the eighth and final IROSA on the station’s 3B electrical power channel. The October 29 operation was the penultimate installation in the solar-array upgrade programme.
During their latest excursion, the astronauts also completed preparatory work to support the upcoming installation. NASA expects the November 5 operation to complete the power-system augmentation programme, concluding a project that has progressively expanded the station’s electricity-generating capability since the first roll-out solar arrays were installed in 2021.
The October 29 mission also carried significance for NASA’s spacewalk programme. Designated US spacewalk 100, the excursion marked the 100th spacewalk conducted from the ISS’s Quest airlock without a space shuttle docked to the station. It was also the 285th spacewalk supporting the assembly, maintenance and upgrading of the orbiting laboratory.
For Menon, the operation marked his fourth spacewalk, while Kutryk, representing the Canadian Space Agency, completed his first. Their work combined a major upgrade to the station’s power infrastructure with a milestone in the history of human activity outside the ISS.
With seven roll-out solar arrays now installed, NASA is preparing for the final scheduled spacewalk on November 5. The installation of the eighth array is expected to complete the upgrade programme and strengthen the International Space Station’s electricity-generating capacity for its remaining operational years.
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