First All-Female Spacewalk Canceled Because NASA Doesn’t Have Two Suits That Fit

It hadn’t been planned as a historic mission, yet it would have represented a moment of sorts: the first all-female spacewalk.

But that moment will have to wait, NASA said Monday, because of a somewhat basic issue — spacesuit sizes.

The two astronauts who were scheduled to walk together in space on Friday, Anne C. McClain and Christina H. Koch, would both need to wear a medium-size torso component. But only one is readily available at the International Space Station.

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The mission itself is unchanged. On Friday, two astronauts will venture outside of the space station on a six-hour mission to install massive lithium-ion batteries that will help to power the research laboratory. Ms. Koch is still scheduled to participate, along with her fellow astronaut Nick Hague; Ms. McClain did her first spacewalk last week.

But the first women-only venture outside of the confines of the space station will have to happen on another day. “After consulting with McClain and Hague following the first spacewalk, mission managers decided to adjust the assignments, due in part to spacesuit availability on the station,” NASA said in a statement.