On May 23, 2017, American astronauts Peggy Whitson and Jack Fisher performed a spacewalk. Peggy Whitson replaced a failed external computer, while crewmate Jack Fischer installed a pair of antennas to improve wireless communications during future excursions. The EVA (extravehicular activity) lasted 2 hours and 46 minutes. This was the tenth spacewalk for Peggy Whitson and the second for Jack Fisher. Peggy Whitson has already been the world’s most experienced female spacewalker, and this EVA moved her up from fifth to third in the world with a cumulative EVA time of 60 hours and 21 minutes.

On May 18, 2017 at 11:54 UTC the Russian "Soyuz-STA” rocket-carrier was launched from Kourou launch site in French Guiana. The rocket equipped with the "Fregat-M” booster orbited the “SES-15” telecommunication satellite. The spacecraft’s mission is to help airline travelers stay connected and improve air navigation over the United States. The satellite was made by Boeing Satellite Systems. It was the 17^th launch of a Soyuz rocket-carrier from French Guiana, the only Soyuz launch pad outside the former territory of the Soviet Union.