NASA plans three August spacewalks for ISS upgrades
NASA has scheduled three U.S. spacewalks in August to upgrade power, communications, data and docking systems on the International Space Station, beginning Thursday, August 6, 2026.
The work combines routine but consequential station maintenance with preparations for a seventh roll-out solar array and the laboratory’s eventual controlled deorbit. The spacewalks support continued operations, but they do not retire or deorbit the ISS.
What happens on August 6
NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Anil Menon are scheduled to leave the Quest airlock for U.S. spacewalk 96. They will install hardware to modify the station’s 3B power channel and prepare it for the future installation of an International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array, or IROSA.
NASA says the seventh IROSA is scheduled for delivery later in 2026. Once installed, it is intended to provide additional power for critical station operations, including activities connected to the station’s safe and controlled deorbit.
NASA’s live coverage is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. EDT on August 6. The spacewalk is expected to start at 8:35 a.m. EDT and last about six and a half hours. It will be Meir’s sixth spacewalk and Menon’s first.
Two more spacewalks are planned
During U.S. spacewalk 97 on August 13, two astronauts are scheduled to replace a space-to-ground antenna. The system supports data transmission and high-speed communications between Mission Control in Houston and the space station.
U.S. spacewalk 98 is planned for August 25. The astronauts are expected to connect power-channel cables and data-relay systems as part of ongoing maintenance, including preparations for future deorbit work. They also are scheduled to replace a navigation aid used for spacecraft docking at the forward port of the station’s Harmony module.
NASA has not yet released the final crew assignments, exact start times or coverage details for the August 13 and August 25 operations. The agency said it will provide those details closer to each spacewalk.
Together, the three missions will be the 281st, 282nd and 283rd spacewalks conducted in support of station assembly, maintenance and upgrades.
Why the infrastructure work matters
The tasks involve systems that are essential to a crewed orbital laboratory: generating and distributing power, maintaining communications with Earth, moving data and guiding visiting spacecraft during docking.
The ISS remains an active multinational facility used for research, technology demonstrations and crew operations. Maintaining those systems is important while NASA and its partners continue using the station during the remaining years of its planned service life.
How the work fits NASA’s long-term plan
NASA’s transition plan calls for the United States and several international partners to continue operating the ISS through 2030. At the same time, NASA is supporting a shift toward commercially owned destinations in low Earth orbit. Those commercial replacements are still being developed; they are not already operating as a full replacement for the ISS.
At the end of the station’s operating period, NASA’s framework calls for a controlled reentry into a remote ocean area rather than an uncontrolled fall. NASA selected SpaceX in 2024 to develop and deliver a U.S. Deorbit Vehicle under a potential contract valued at $843 million. That figure applies to the deorbit-vehicle program, not to the August spacewalks or the full cost of retiring the station.
The next milestones to watch are NASA’s final crew and timing announcements for spacewalks 97 and 98, planning for delivery and installation of the seventh IROSA, and further updates on the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle.
The August schedule shows NASA continuing to invest in station reliability even as it prepares for the laboratory’s eventual replacement and retirement.
Sources
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