NASA Postpones ISS Spacewalk Following Crew Medical Review; Crew-11 Return Evaluated

NASA indefinitely suspended the first scheduled Extravehicular Activity (EVA) of 2026, designated U.S. spacewalk 94, following the emergence of an unspecified medical concern aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on the afternoon of Wednesday, January 7, 2026. This decision directly impacted the spacewalk planned for Thursday, January 8, 2026, underscoring the agency's commitment to crew well-being during long-duration missions.

The involved international partners, including NASA, JAXA, and Roscosmos, initiated a rapid assessment process, committing to provide operational updates within 24 hours of the announcement. The Crew-11 mission, which launched in August 2025, is now subject to a review for an early return to Earth, a contingency for missions typically scheduled for six to eight months in orbit. The primary technical objective of the aborted EVA was to prepare the station's 2A power channel infrastructure for the forthcoming installation of a new International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA).

NASA astronauts Mike Fincke, the ISS Commander, and Flight Engineer Zena Cardman were assigned to the postponed spacewalk; Fincke was set to complete his tenth career EVA. The four-person Crew-11 contingent also includes JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. The mission launched on August 1, 2025, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon, with an original return targeted for late February or around May 2026.

The agency confirmed that the crew member's condition remains stable, withholding specific details in adherence to established medical privacy policies. NASA is actively evaluating all available options to ensure crew safety while minimizing disruption to the orbital laboratory's scientific and maintenance schedule. The subsequent EVA, U.S. spacewalk 95, remains tentatively scheduled for January 15, 2026, focusing on camera replacement and reflector installation.

The iROSA program, which the postponed EVA was intended to support, represents a significant upgrade to the ISS power grid; previous installations augmented power generation by over 20 kilowatts per array, aiming for a 30% total increase over the original arrays installed between December 2000 and March 2009. The current situation places immediate focus on crew health protocols and the procedural timeline for the next crew rotation, SpaceX Crew-12, currently slated for launch no earlier than February 15, 2026.