Watch Live as Astronauts Install Solar Arrays Outside the ISS

The pair of astronauts will install a roll-out solar array on the 1A power channel on the station’s starboard truss structure. This will be the fifth set of iRosa solar arrays installed on the ISS, which arrived to the space station on Tuesday courtesy of SpaceX’s most recent Dragon cargo mission.

On June 15, the same astronauts will venture out of the ISS again to install the sixth set of solar arrays on the 1B power channel on the starboard truss. The iRosas are designed to increase the space station’s power generation capability by 30%, increasing the station’s total available power from 160 kilowatts to up to 215 kilowatts, according to NASA.

This will be Bowen’s ninth spacewalk. The astronaut recently embarked on a spacewalk outside the ISS alongside United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi to continue installing hardware to support future power system upgrades to the ISS.

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