ISS Astronauts Complete Two Spacewalks to Install Power-Boosting Solar Arrays

Two American astronauts aboard the International Space Station completed back-to-back spacewalks beginning March 18, 2026, venturing outside the orbiting laboratory to install infrastructure for two new roll-out solar arrays that will significantly extend the station's power capacity before it reaches the end of its operational life. Mission control in Houston described both extravehicular activities as fully successful, completing all primary objectives without major technical issues.

The first spacewalk was conducted March 18 and the second March 20, each lasting approximately six and a half hours. The activities focused on routing power and data cables and installing mounting brackets that will support two new iROSA panels — International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays — manufactured by Deployable Space Systems of Goleta, California. The iROSA panels are engineered to unroll from a compact cylindrical package to their full operational size without requiring astronauts to manually deploy each section. Each new panel generates approximately 20 kilowatts of additional electricity for the station, boosting power available for science experiments, life support systems, and communications. The astronauts used the station's robotic arm, Canadarm2, to reposition equipment and themselves during portions of the work, with the ISS traveling at approximately 17,500 miles per hour at an altitude of roughly 250 miles.

The power upgrades are part of NASA's broader program to extend ISS operations through at least 2030, pending continued congressional authorization. The station's original eight solar arrays, installed beginning in 2000, have degraded significantly over more than two decades of operation in the harsh radiation environment of low Earth orbit and have lost roughly one-third of their generating capacity. Previous iROSA installations were completed in 2021, 2022, and 2023. The new panels being prepared in March 2026 represent the fifth and sixth installations in the program. NASA engineers have determined that the iROSA upgrade program is far more cost-effective than building entirely new power infrastructure for the station during its remaining operational years.

The timing of the solar array work carries institutional significance. NASA is under growing pressure from Congress and the Office of Management and Budget to finalize a plan for transitioning human activities in low Earth orbit from the ISS to commercially operated stations in the 2030s. Three U.S. companies — Axiom Space, Blue Origin's Orbital Reef project, and Voyager Space's Starlab — are under contract with NASA to develop commercial station concepts. Critics of continued ISS investment have argued that funding power upgrades to a station scheduled for deorbit within a decade is wasteful; NASA officials have countered that the station's unique research capabilities — including microgravity experiments in materials science, biology, and physics — cannot be replicated in ground facilities and that every additional year of operation yields valuable scientific returns.

For the astronauts who performed the spacewalks, the activities added to a busy first quarter of 2026 at the station. NASA has maintained a continuous American presence on the ISS since November 2000, and the station currently hosts a crew of seven from the United States, Russia, and international partners. The iROSA installation work also had a practical immediacy: NASA's autonomous medical support software was demonstrated aboard the station in early March, and ensuring adequate electrical power for life sciences equipment has become an ongoing operational priority as the agency deepens its research into human health in space ahead of planned missions to the Moon and Mars.