Russian Cosmonauts Install Ekran-M Experiment During October Spacewalk to Advance Orbital Manufacturing

On October 16, 2025, Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky completed a significant extravehicular activity (EVA) outside the International Space Station (ISS), dedicating six hours to an intricate operation focused on orbital science. This spacewalk, officially designated the 277th EVA supporting the station's assembly and maintenance, centered on positioning the advanced Ekran-M experiment onto the Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module.

The primary objective of the excursion was to utilize the microgravity environment for fabricating ultra-thin semiconductor materials. The Ekran-M experiment, developed by the A.V. Rzhanov Institute of Semiconductor Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, is engineered to grow high-purity gallium arsenide films in space. This material is crucial for next-generation solar cells, suggesting a future where orbital platforms could function as self-sufficient facilities producing vital photovoltaic elements beyond Earth's atmosphere.

In addition to the main installation, the cosmonauts performed several essential servicing tasks required for the complex orbital infrastructure. These duties included the careful removal and subsequent release of an outdated high-resolution camera from the Zvezda module. They also meticulously cleaned a Zvezda porthole and retrieved a cassette container from the Poisk module. This mission marked a personal milestone: it was the second EVA for Ryzhikov, while it represented the inaugural spacewalk for Zubritsky.

For the demanding external work, the crew utilized Russia's latest Orlan-MKS spacesuits, manufactured by the Zvezda research and production enterprise. Ryzhikov operated in the suit marked with red stripes, contrasting with Zubritsky's suit featuring blue markings. The successful deployment of Ekran-M underscores the ongoing global focus on in-space manufacturing capabilities, aiming to reduce reliance on costly Earth-to-orbit supply chains and establish new production paradigms leveraging space's fundamental conditions.

The successful execution of this EVA reinforces the spirit of cooperation sustaining the ISS, pushing the boundaries of space research and technological capability. The ability to reliably conduct such complex external operations is a testament to refined human coordination and engineering precision, positioning Russian efforts at the forefront of this emerging field of space-based material science.