Spacewalkers install the last new solar array on the space station

A multi-year effort to boost the International Space Station's power supply is complete. On November 5, 2026, NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk spent 6 hours and 59 minutes outside the station and installed the eighth and final new solar array, known as an IROSA (International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array).

Five years of upgrades

The power upgrade began in February 2021, when crews started adding the new roll-out arrays to the station's truss. Over the whole project, astronauts made 18 spacewalks to prepare the power channels and install all eight arrays.

With the last array in place on its power channel, NASA says the station's power generation rises from 160 kilowatts to about 215 kilowatts. That extra power supports the experiments and equipment the crew depends on.

This was U.S. spacewalk number 101 and the 286th spacewalk devoted to building, maintaining and upgrading the station. It was Menon's fifth spacewalk and Kutryk's second.

Life aboard Expedition 75

Seven people are now aboard: NASA's Menon, Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney; Kutryk; and Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Teteryatnikov, Pyotr Dubrov (the station commander) and Anna Kikina. After the spacewalk, the crew turned to cleanup and science. They are packing microbe samples, water samples and a used spacesuit into a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship that is due to return them to Earth for study. Watkins also passed 200 total days in space on October 31.

See it for yourself

The station is one of the easiest satellites to spot with the naked eye. It looks like a bright, steady point of light gliding across the sky in a few minutes, usually shortly after sunset or before sunrise. NASA's Spot the Station service lists passes for your location, and binoculars are all you need to enjoy the view.

What comes next: the Dragon cargo ship is expected to depart next week with the crew's samples and the spacesuit aboard.