A problem with the International Space Station’s cooling system will require a series of spacewalks to fix, pushing the planned Thursday (Dec. 19) launch of a private cargo spacecraft into next month.

NASA has decided that three spacewalks — one each on Dec. 21, Dec. 23 and Dec. 25 — will be necessary to replace a faulty pump module on the orbiting lab. The holiday spacewalks will postpone the first contracted cargo mission of aerospace firm Orbital Sciences’ unmanned Cygnus spacecraft until mid-January at the earliest, NASA officials announced today (Dec. 17).

Each of the three spacewalks is scheduled to begin at 7:10 a.m. EST (1210 GMT) and last 6 1/2 hours. You can watch coverage of the extravehicular activities here on SPACE.com beginning each day at 6:15 a.m. EST, courtesy of NASA TV.

via NASA Plans 3 Spacewalks to Fix Space Station, Delaying Private Cargo Launch | Space.com.