# Is the ISS Space-to-Ground Antenna Replacement Complete?

**No — and the 6 hours 23 minutes that NASA and ESA logged on EVA 282 explain why.** On Tuesday, August 18, 2026, NASA astronaut Anil Menon and ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot successfully removed a failed Space-to-Ground antenna (SGANT) from the station's Z-1 truss, but complications with electrical connections and gimbal bolt lockdown meant flight controllers waved off the replacement installation entirely. The failed unit has been tethered to the truss in a temporary stow configuration, and mission managers are now deciding whether to fold the replacement task into a spacewalk already planned for August 25 or schedule a dedicated later EVA.

The antenna in question had been offline since November — unable to track NASA's data relay satellites and effectively cutting one of the station's two uplink/downlink paths. A redundant second antenna has maintained communications with Mission Control Houston throughout that period. That redundancy kept the problem from becoming operationally critical, but it also means ISS is currently running on a single SGANT, with zero margin if that backup unit degrades.

Adenot's EVA was her first, making her the first female and fifth French citizen to perform a spacewalk, following Jean-Loup Chrétien, Jean-Pierre Haigneré, Philippe Perrin, and Thomas Pesquet.

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## What Happened During EVA 282

Menon and Adenot egressed through the U.S. Quest airlock at 8:29 a.m. EDT, initiating the clock when they switched their EMU suits to battery power. Spacewalk planners had allocated approximately six and a half hours for both the removal and the installation of the replacement antenna — a schedule that turned out to be optimistic.

The removal phase proceeded but consumed more time than budgeted. The crew ran into delays at two specific points: disconnecting electrical connections on the failed SGANT, and securing gimbal bolts — the pins that lock the large dish assembly in place for transport. These are exactly the kinds of tasks that look clean in a neutral buoyancy tank and turn friction-heavy in orbit, where suit gloves reduce tactile feedback and every procedure requires deliberate stabilization against reaction forces.

Menon's post-EVA assessment was measured: "We got into this with the mindset that we wanted everything to go perfectly. Things were a lot different than expected, but what I would say that I am really impressed with is that all of those contingencies were well thought out."

That's a useful signal. The contingency planning held. Flight controllers pivoted in real time to a long-duration tie-down of the failed SGANT on the Z-1 truss — essentially parking it safely — and stood down the replacement task rather than rushing an installation with insufficient time margin.

The EVA closed at 2:52 p.m. EDT when re-pressurization began in Quest, logging a total time of 6 hours and 23 minutes.

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## Adenot's Historic Milestone in Context

This was the first spacewalk for Sophie Adenot, ESA's French astronaut. She becomes the fifth French citizen to perform an EVA and the first French woman to do so — a distinction that lands within a broader pattern of ESA expanding its crewed operations footprint as ISS enters its final operational years.

Adenot's reaction was direct: "What a day! My deepest gratitude to everyone who made this possible — the pioneers who came before us, but also the incredible teams working behind the scenes today."

For Menon, this was his second EVA. His first was conducted with NASA astronaut Jessica Meir on August 6. Combining both outings brings his total accumulated spacewalking time to 12 hours and 50 minutes, according to Space.com's reporting.

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## Program-Wide Numbers

EVA 282 carries some notable cumulative tallies. It was:

- The **282nd spacewalk** in support of ISS assembly, maintenance, and upgrades
- The **fifth EVA conducted from ISS** in 2026
- The **second EVA for Expedition 75**
- The **97th using U.S. extravehicular mobility unit (EMU) spacesuits** at the station

Those EMU numbers matter for the broader ISS operations picture. The suits are aging hardware, and NASA has invested in the xEMU/Axiom-developed replacement program — but for station work in [Low Earth Orbit (LEO)](https://orbital-intel.com/glossary/leo) today, the legacy EMU fleet remains the operational workhorse.

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## What This Means for ISS Comms Redundancy

The operational situation is worth flagging clearly: ISS is currently running on a single active SGANT. That's the designed-for-redundancy scenario, not a crisis — but it is a single point of failure for high-rate data relay communications. NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) network depends on functional SGANT hardware aboard the station to maintain the near-continuous coverage that enables real-time video downlinks, science data return, and voice loops with Mission Control.

If the August 25 spacewalk absorbs the replacement task, that restores full antenna redundancy within a week. If managers defer it to a later, dedicated EVA, the station operates on one SGANT for a longer window. Neither outcome is catastrophic given the backup antenna's functionality — but the longer the single-antenna configuration persists, the more a second hardware anomaly would constrain operations.

The original failure date — November of the prior year — already indicates the station has been in this reduced-redundancy posture for roughly nine months before EVA 282 addressed the hardware.

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## Key Takeaways

- **Sophie Adenot** became the first French woman and fifth French citizen to perform a spacewalk on August 18, 2026
- **EVA 282** lasted 6 hours and 23 minutes — inside the planned ~6.5-hour window, but insufficient to complete both removal and replacement
- The failed **Space-to-Ground antenna** has been offline since November and is now tethered in temporary stow on the Z-1 truss
- A **second EVA** — either on August 25 or a later date — is required to install the replacement SGANT
- ISS is currently operating with **one active SGANT**, maintaining communications redundancy at reduced margin
- This was Menon's second EVA, bringing his career total to **12 hours and 50 minutes**
- EVA 282 was the **97th using U.S. EMU suits** at ISS and the fifth ISS EVA of 2026

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## Frequently Asked Questions

**Who performed EVA 282 on the ISS on August 18, 2026?**
NASA astronaut Anil Menon and ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot conducted EVA 282, the 282nd spacewalk in support of ISS assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.

**Why is Sophie Adenot historically significant?**
Adenot became the first female French citizen to perform a spacewalk, and the fifth French citizen overall to do so, following Jean-Loup Chrétien, Jean-Pierre Haigneré, Philippe Perrin, and Thomas Pesquet.

**Why wasn't the ISS Space-to-Ground antenna replacement completed?**
The crew encountered delays disconnecting electrical connections and securing gimbal bolts on the failed antenna. With insufficient time remaining in the EVA, flight controllers stood down the replacement installation and tethered the old unit to the truss for temporary stowage.

**How long has the ISS been running on a single Space-to-Ground antenna?**
The failed SGANT ceased tracking NASA's data relay satellites in November, meaning ISS has been operating with one active antenna for approximately nine months prior to the August 18 EVA.

**When will the replacement antenna be installed?**
Mission managers are evaluating whether to add the installation task to a spacewalk already planned for August 25 or to schedule a separate dedicated EVA at a later date.