Two astronauts who just embarked on a spacewalk a week ago are due to once again exit the International Space Station.
The venture would mark the second of two spacewalks NASA planned for fall at the iconic orbital outpost with the objective of wrapping up a project to boost the space station's power-generating capacity.
Following NASA's landmark 100th spacewalk at the station, one American and one Canadian are preparing to suit up for what could be a seven-hour venture into the vacuum of space.
Interested in watching the Nov. 5 spacewalk? NASA and its commercial partners like Amazon will provide plenty of ways to ensure you can keep up with the cosmic action as it unfolds in real time.
Watch NASA+ content with Amazon Prime Video
Here's everything
to know about the upcoming spacewalk, and how you can watch it live.
What is the International Space Station?
The International Space Station has been stationed in low-Earth orbit for more than 25 years, typically about 260 miles high, where it has been home to astronauts from all over the world. Throughout its lifespan, the station has served as a test bed for scientific research in microgravity and has in years past opened itself up to private commercial missions.
The orbital laboratory is operated through a global partnership of space agencies, including NASA, Roscosmos, the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.
More than 290 spacefarers from 26 countries have visited the International Space Station, including 174 from the United States alone, according to NASA. While aboard the ISS, astronauts from all over the world not only help keep the aging station operational, but prepare for humans to venture deeper into space.
What is a spacewalk? How often do astronauts exit ISS?
A spacewalk, often called extra-vehicular activity in space industry parlance, refers to any activity an astronaut undertakes outside of a space station or spacecraft. Spacewalks require suiting up in specialized suits and exposing oneself to the vacuum of outer space.
When is the next spacewalk?
The next spacewalk is set for Thursday, Nov. 5, with two astronauts due to exit the International Space Station about 8:30 a.m. ET, according to NASA. The operation is expected to last about seven hours, the agency said in a blog post.
The spacewalk will be the second in the span of a week following a slew of four that took place between August and early September.
How to watch NASA coverage of spacewalk on YouTube, Prime, more
NASA's live coverage of the spacewalk will begin at 7 a.m. ET Nov. 5 and will be available to stream on the agency's free NASA+ app, as well as Amazon Prime, discovery+, social media site Xand YouTube. Netflix, which provided coverage of a previous spacewalk in July, will not host a livestream this time on its platform.
Livestream: Watch NASA spacewalk live
Spacewalk is 8th with Americans of 2026. What astronauts are going?
The upcoming spacewalk will be the ninth of 2026 and the eighth this year featuring at least one U.S. astronaut. The most recent spacewalk occurred Oct. 29, when NASA astronaut Anil Menon, who conducted three consecutive spacewalks in August, made his fourth overall journey into the vacuum of space with Joshua Kutryk of the Canadian Space Agency, who made his first spacewalk.
Both Menon and Kutryk will take part in the next spacewalk as well.
Known as U.S. spacewalk 101, the venture will be the 101st of its kind with NASA astronauts and the 286th in the International Space Station's history.
What will the astronauts be doing during the spacewalk?
The purpose of the spacewalk is for the astronauts to finish the work they began on Oct. 29 by installing and deploying the final solar array providing additional power to the station. The "power augmentation upgrades," as NASA refers to them, will not only increase power to the station by 30%, but eventually assist in helping to deorbit the ISS when it's retired in a few years.
What astronauts are on the International Space Station?
Seven astronauts are living and working at the International Space Station.
The most recent arrivals at the beginning of October included NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney, as well as Joshua Kutryk of the Canadian Space Agency and Russian cosmonaut Sergey Teteryatnikov. The astronauts are members of a mission known as Crew-13, which launched for the space station in a SpaceX Dragon capsule perched atop a Falcon 9 rocket, which lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
NASA astronaut Anil Menon arrived in mid-July at the space station with Russians Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina on a Roscosmos Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft for an eight-month mission.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASA's 101st ISS spacewalk aims to boost station power by 30%
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