2 astronauts will finish upgrading ISS solar arrays during spacewalk today: Watch it live

space.com Nov 5, 2026

2 astronauts will finish upgrading ISS solar arrays during spacewalk today: Watch it live

Curated by Shubham · TechCapsules · Nov 5, 2026

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk will complete the installation of the International Space Station’s eighth Roll‑Out Solar Array (iROSA) during a seven‑hour spacewalk on November 5. The EVA, scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. EST, will raise the station’s power capacity from 160 kW to roughly 215 kW, a 30 % increase. The pair previously installed the seventh iROSA on October 29, marking the 100th U.S. EVA on the ISS and the first Canadian EVA since 2019. The crew currently includes five other astronauts aboard the ISS.

💡 Why It Matters

· The upgraded solar arrays will extend the ISS’s operational life by providing more reliable power for experiments and future missions, ensuring continued scientific output from the orbiting laboratory.

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‘You Can See Everything’ is getting an outer space release and it…

A24 confirmed NASA’s request to screen the documentary “You Can See Everything” on the International Space Station, marking the first time the film will be shown outside Earth. The film, directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, opened in North America with a limited release and quickly topped the box‑office charts, sparking global demand. Sony Pictures will distribute the movie in Germany, Latin America, South Korea, and other territories, while the UK and France will see releases on November 20 and December 30, respectively.

💡 The ISS screening underscores the documentary’s cultural reach, illustrating how a film can influence audiences even beyond terrestrial borders. It also signals a growing trend of media partnerships with space agencies, expanding the audience for cinematic content into new frontiers.

space.com · Nov 5

China lays out plans to land astronauts on the moon ‘before 2030.’…

China’s space agency unveiled a four‑mission roadmap to land astronauts on the Moon “before 2030” at the 7th Manned Space Symposium in Beijing. The plan begins with a 2027 Long March 10A launch of the uncrewed Mengzhou cargo capsule to low‑Earth orbit, followed by a 2028 Long March 10 flight carrying the Lanyue lander for a lunar descent‑ascent test. In 2029 two Long March 10 rockets will launch Mengzhou and Lanyue for a full lunar‑orbit rendezvous rehearsal. The final dual‑launch mission, slated for late 2030 at the latest, will send a crewed Mengzhou and an uncrewed Lanyue to dock in lunar orbit, after which three astronauts will transfer to Lanyue for a three‑day surface stay. The schedule aligns with China’s 80th‑anniversary milestone and pressures NASA’s Artemis timeline, which targets a crewed landing in 2028 using Orion and commercial landers.

💡 A successful Chinese crewed landing before 2030 would give Beijing its first deep‑space human achievement, reshaping geopolitical prestige in space and forcing the United States to accelerate or rethink its Artemis commitments.

space.com · Nov 5

On this day in space! Nov. 4, 2015: A rail-launched Super Strypi…

On 4 November 2015 the U.S. Air Force attempted the inaugural flight of the rail‑launched Super Strypi from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii. The three‑stage solid‑motor vehicle lifted off at 9:45 p.m. local time but began tumbling within seconds, crashing less than a minute after launch. The failure destroyed the primary payload, the ORS‑4 (HiakaSat) Earth‑observation satellite, and twelve secondary payloads, including eight cubesats for NASA’s Edison Demonstration of Smallsat Networks and four university experiments. Investigators traced the anomaly to a likely first‑stage motor defect. The mishap ended the Super Strypi program, and the Air Force has since relied on commercial launch providers for rapid‑response missions. The loss halted a planned demonstration of swarm‑technology capabilities that could have validated satellite concepts.

💡 The failure forced the service to abandon its own quick‑launch capability, accelerating its shift to private providers that can deliver notice‑level turnarounds.

space.com · Nov 4

NASA’s Artemis II moon launch tore a hole in Earth’s upper atmosphere…

NASA’s Artemis II launch on April 1, 2026 produced the most intense ionospheric disturbance recorded from a rocket, according to a study by National Cheng Kung University. Ground‑based GPS stations across the United States detected electron‑density changes that caused several‑meter positioning errors, potentially affecting autonomous vehicles and drones. The study found the disturbance was up to ten times stronger than those from SpaceX’s Starship tests, and the effect lasted for hours as shock‑wave “holes” traversed the continent.

💡 The event demonstrates that even routine lunar missions can temporarily compromise critical navigation infrastructure, underscoring the need for robust mitigation strategies as spaceflight activity increases.

androidcentral.com · Nov 4

Qualcomm and SpaceX ink a deal to begin working on a Starlink…

Qualcomm announced a partnership with SpaceX to develop a 5G Starlink mobile network slated for a 2027 U.S. launch. The deal will use Qualcomm’s Dragonwing QRU100 and QDU100 platforms, Massive MIMO radio units, and Layer 1 software to build a high‑capacity, scalable network. Qualcomm describes the collaboration as its largest 5G deal yet and a foundation for future AI‑native 6G. The agreement follows SpaceX’s recent rejection by T‑Mobile for a similar MVNO arrangement.

💡 The alliance positions Qualcomm as a key enabler of satellite‑backed 5G, potentially reshaping how rural and underserved areas access high‑speed connectivity. It also signals a strategic shift toward integrating space‑based infrastructure with terrestrial networks, setting a precedent for future 6G development.

space.com · Nov 4

Mars isn’t dead — recent volcanic activity reveals it’s just sleeping

ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter detected hydrogen chloride gas escaping from fissures in Mars’ Alba Mons region, indicating dormant volcanic activity beneath the planet’s surface. The gas, typically associated with Earth’s magma vents, suggests that Mars retains enough internal heat to support recent volcanism. Observations confirm that the planet’s largest volcanoes, including Olympus Mons, may still be active, challenging the long‑held view of Mars as geologically dead. The findings highlight potential hydrothermal systems that could have supported past microbial life.

💡 Revealing active volcanism reshapes our understanding of Mars’ thermal evolution and its capacity to host habitable environments, offering new targets for future life‑search missions.