Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk completes second spacewalk

Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk completed his second spacewalk on Thursday, spending nearly seven hours in the vacuum of space as he worked to upgrade the International Space Station's power system.

Kutryk and NASA astronaut Anil Menon stepped back into the space station at the end of a six-hour, 59 minute spacewalk that ended at 3:35 p.m. ET.

The astronauts installed the eighth and final solar array on the starboard side of the truss, which serves as the station’s structural backbone. The spacewalk got underway just after 8:30 a.m., when the astronauts switched their suits to battery power. Kutryk was first to emerge from the Quest airlock, with a red stripe on the legs of his space suit setting him apart from his colleague.

The campaign to upgrade the solar arrays began in 2021 and is expected to increase the station's power generation capacity by up to 30 per cent, according to the agency. The eight arrays will increase available power by up to 30% elevating the station’s power generation capacity from 160 kilowatts to approximately 215 kilowatts.

During the spacewalk, flight controllers spotted lower-than-expected electrical current from the freshly connected array and held the deployment through another trip around the planet so Kutryk could inspect a power connector in the darkness of orbital night. Kutryk disconnected one of the cable connections, inspected both ends and plugged it back in, confirming it was firmly seated. After the station returned to daylight, flight controllers reported “good currents” and cleared the crew to deploy the array. NASA did not immediately say what caused the initially low readings.

“Josh, deployment is complete,” Mission Control radioed Kutryk after the previously rolled-up array reached its full length of 63 feet.

Kutryk became the fifth Canadian to perform a spacewalk on Oct. 29 when he and Menon worked together to install new solar arrays needed to upgrade the station's power capacity. Thursday was a fifth spacewalk for Menon, NASA said.

The Canadian Space Agency says spacewalks are among the most difficult and dangerous tasks for astronauts, but are needed to repair or install equipment or carry out manual work. Before Kutryk, the last Canadian to perform a spacewalk was David Saint-Jacques in 2019.

The Canadian Space Agency says there were several Canadians playing key roles in Thursday's spacewalk. Those include CSA astronaut Jenni Gibbons, who spoke with the crew as capsule communicator, or capcom, from Houston. The Canadarm 2 robotic arm was used to move the solar array, while CSA teams in Longueuil, Que., helped to support operations, the agency said.

Kutryk and his fellow crew members took off for the International Space Station on Oct. 1 for a mission expected to last six months.

NASA astronaut Nichole Stilwell, who served as spacewalk communicator from Houston, congratulated the crew, which also included NASA’s Luke Delaney and Jessica Watkins inside the station.

"You all showed us what the best of humanity looks like, executing one of the most difficult and dangerous things humans do, and making it look easy," she said in a message that could be heard in NASA's live broadcast.

Kutryk, in his first message upon returning to the space station, praised and thanked the teamwork that made the spacewalk possible.

"It really shows out here when you’re in the seat, hanging over the Earth, so thank you for that," he said.

As the spacewalk ended, Menon paid tribute to over 15 years of development effort that went into the solar arrays, which he said will "provide power that will continue to allow the station to be a staircase for the moon, and eventually Mars."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2026.

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