Astronauts complete ISS antenna repair during spacewalk

NASA astronaut Anil Menon and European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot successfully completed a spacewalk on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, to install a replacement antenna on the International Space Station, restoring a critical high-speed communications link with mission control. The operation, which lasted approximately six and a half hours, concluded at 2:57 p.m. EDT.

The spacewalk, officially designated as U.S. spacewalk 98 and the 283rd in the station's history, was the second outing for the pair in a week. Their primary task was to finish a repair job that began on August 18, when they removed a faulty SpacetoGround antenna, known as SGANT. That initial spacewalk ran longer than planned due to difficulties with stubborn bolts and connectors, leaving insufficient time to install the new unit.

On Tuesday, Menon and Adenot successfully installed and connected the spare antenna, which is essential for transmitting high-bandwidth data between the orbiting laboratory and NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston. Afterward, they secured the failed unit to a spare parts platform on the station's truss structure. The successful installation is expected to restore the station's...