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NASA has postponed a planned spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) that was scheduled for Thursday, January 8, 2026, following a medical concern involving an unidentified crew member. The agency announced the postponement on January 7, stating that the issue arose Wednesday afternoon aboard the orbital laboratory. Due to medical privacy considerations, NASA has not disclosed the identity of the affected crew member or specific details about the condition.

In an update issued on January 8, NASA confirmed that the crew member is stable. The agency emphasized that safely conducting missions remains its highest priority and is actively evaluating all options, including the possibility of an earlier end to the SpaceX Crew-11 mission.

The current ISS Expedition 74 crew includes members of SpaceX Crew-11 NASA astronauts Zena Cardman (commander) and Mike Fincke, JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. The crew launched to the ISS atop a Falcon 9 rocket aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft on August 1, 2025. Initially, their mission was scheduled to have a duration of ~6 months.

The spacewalk, designated as U.S. EVA-94, was set to begin around 8:00 a.m. ET and last approximately 6.5 hours. NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman were assigned to perform tasks, including preparing the station’s 2A power channel for future installation of roll-out solar arrays.

This was to be the first spacewalk of 2026 and the 278th in support of ISS assembly, maintenance, and upgrades. A second spacewalk planned for later in January is now also under review.

NASA stated it will provide further updates on the spacewalk rescheduling and crew status within the next 24 hours.

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