NASA will preview two upcoming spacewalks to complete solar array installation and power augmentation of the International Space Station during a news conference at 2 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Oct. 20, from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

NASA will stream the event through a variety of platforms. Learn where to watch online:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

NASA participants in the news conference include:

• Gaurang Patel, operations integration manager, Low Earth Orbit Program
• Garrett Hehn, spacewalk flight director, Flight Operations Directorate

United States-based media interested in attending in person must contact the Johnson newsroom no later than 3 p.m., Monday, Oct. 19, at: jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov. Media joining by phone should request dial-in details by the same deadline. To ask a question, media must dial in no later than 15 minutes before the start of the news conference.

Thursday, Oct. 29

During U.S. spacewalk 100, NASA astronaut Anil Menon and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Joshua Kutryk will exit the station’s Quest airlock to install and deploy an International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array (IROSA) on the 2A electrical power channel. The solar array will be the seventh IROSA and will provide additional power to support critical station operations, including its safe and controlled deorbit.

Thursday, Nov. 5

During U.S. spacewalk 101, Menon and Kutryk will install and deploy the eighth and final IROSA on the 3B channel of the space station, completing the power augmentation upgrades.

The final two roll-out solar arrays will complete the space station’s power system augmentation. Together, the eight roll-out arrays will increase available power by up to 30%, boosting the station’s electric power generation capacity from 160 kilowatts to approximately 215 kilowatts.

NASA will share additional coverage details about U.S. spacewalks 100 and 101 closer to each operation on the agency’s live events web page and the space station blog. The spacewalks will be the 285th and 286th conducted in support of space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.

To learn more about International Space Station research, operations, and its crews, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/station

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Joshua Finch / Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov

Sandra Jones / Anna Schneider
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov / anna.c.schneider@nasa.gov

NASA’s SpaceX 35th commercial resupply mission lifted off at 6:33 a.m. EDT Tuesday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, carrying more than 6,300 pounds of supplies and hardware, bound for the International Space Station. Following its successful launch, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will carry new scientific experiments, cargo, and the final pair of International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays to the orbiting laboratory.

Dragon is scheduled to autonomously dock at 11 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 15, to the space-facing port of the space station’s Harmony module. NASA will stream rendezvous and docking coverage beginning at 9:15 a.m., through a variety of platforms. Learn where to watch online:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

The final pair of solar arrays will complete the space station’s power system augmentation, boosting available electricity for research, operations, and the station’s safe, controlled deorbit. Astronauts will install the arrays during a series of spacewalks planned for later this fall.

Dragon also is delivering several new experiments, including hardware to manufacture artificial retinas in microgravity that could help restore vision for patients on Earth and 3D heart tissue models to advance large-scale drug testing on future space missions. Dragon also will carry materials to study how a new type of glass is formed in microgravity, and brain organoids that could uncover potential treatment targets for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and multiple sclerosis.

These are just a sample of the hundreds of investigations conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory in the areas of biology and biotechnology, physical sciences, and Earth and space science. Research and technology investigations taking place aboard the space station benefit people on Earth and lay the groundwork for other agency deep space missions. As part of NASA’s Artemis program, the agency will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars, inspiring the world through discovery in a new Golden Age of innovation and exploration.

The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the space station until mid-November when it will depart and return to Earth with time-critical research and cargo, splashing down off the coast of California.

Learn more about the International Space Station, its research, and crew, at:

https://www.nasa.gov/station

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Joshua Finch / Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov

Steven Siceloff
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-876-2468
steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov

Sandra Jones / Joseph Zakrzewski
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov / joseph.a.zakrzewski@nasa.gov

Editor’s Note: This advisory was updated Oct. 8, 2026, to reflect revised timing for the Cygnus XL spacecraft’s deorbit and information about its departure.

After delivering more than 11,000 pounds of supplies, science experiments, and other cargo to the International Space Station for NASA, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft is scheduled to depart Friday, Oct. 9, as part of the company’s Commercial Resupply Services-24 mission, or Northrop Grumman CRS-24.

Watch NASA’s live coverage of departure beginning at 12:30 p.m. EDT through a variety of platforms. Learn where to watch online:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

Flight controllers on the ground will send commands for the space station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to detach the Cygnus XL spacecraft from the Unity module’s Earth-facing port and maneuver it into position for release at 12:45 p.m. NASA astronaut Luke Delaney will monitor the operation from aboard the orbital complex.

Loaded with thousands of pounds of disposal items and other unneeded cargo, Cygnus XL will deorbit Monday, Oct. 12, for a destructive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, where it will safely burn up. NASA will not provide coverage of the spacecraft’s deorbit.

The resupply spacecraft launched on April 11 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Learn more about this NASA commercial resupply mission at:

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/nasas-northrop-grumman-crs-24/

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Josh Finch / Jimi Russell
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov

Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov