Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk begins second spacewalk to complete International Space Station upgrade

OTTAWA — Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk began his second spacewalk outside the International Space Station on Thursday, November 5, as part of a major project to upgrade the orbiting laboratory’s power-generation system.

Kutryk and NASA astronaut Anil Menon began the operation at 8:36 a.m. Eastern Time, according to NASA, with the objective of installing and deploying the eighth and final International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array.

The operation represents the final stage of a solar-power modernization campaign launched in 2021, designed to increase the station’s available electrical power by approximately 30 per cent.

Once completed, the upgraded system is expected to raise the station’s power-generation capacity from approximately 160 kilowatts to 215 kilowatts, providing additional electricity for scientific experiments, station operations and future missions.

Kutryk and Menon previously completed a seven-hour-and-11-minute spacewalk on October 29, successfully installing the seventh upgraded solar array.

That operation made Kutryk the fifth Canadian Space Agency astronaut to conduct a spacewalk, joining Chris Hadfield, Steve MacLean, Dave Williams and David Saint-Jacques.

Thursday’s mission also involves Canadian technological and operational support, including the Canadarm2 robotic arm and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jenni Gibbons, who is serving as spacecraft communicator from mission control.

Kutryk, a Canadian Armed Forces colonel and former fighter pilot, launched to the International Space Station on October 1 as part of the Crew-13 mission.

His second spacewalk highlights Canada’s continuing contribution to international space exploration and the development of advanced technologies supporting human operations in orbit.

The mission is being broadcast through NASA’s live coverage platforms as astronauts work to complete the station’s final solar-array installation.