Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk begins second spacewalk

Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk is venturing outside the International Space Station for his second spacewalk in two weeks.

Kutryk and NASA astronaut Anil Menon stepped into the vacuum of space Thursday morning after undergoing lengthy and detailed preparations with the help of their support team.

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.

It’s a second spacewalk for Kutryk, who became the fifth Canadian to perform the feat on Oct. 29 when he and Menon worked together to install new solar arrays needed to upgrade the station’s power capacity.

It’s a fifth spacewalk for Menon, NASA said.

The astronauts are installing the eighth and final solar array on the starboard side of the truss, which serves as the station’s structural backbone.

Video from the spacewalk broadcast by NASA showed the two working step by step with tools on Thursday morning while tethered to the space station, sometimes with a view of Earth in the background.

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.

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.

Before Kutryk, the last Canadian to perform a spacewalk was David Saint-Jacques in 2019.

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

The Canadian Space Agency says there are several Canadians playing key roles in Thursday’s spacewalk. Those include CSA astronaut Jenni Gibbons, who is communicating with the crew as capsule commander, or capcom, from Houston.

The Canadarm 2 robotic arm is being used to move the solar array, while CSA teams in Longueuil, Que. are helping to support operations.

The spacewalk is expected to last more than six and a half hours.

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

The Canadian Press