Sophie Adenot completes historic first French spacewalk

ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and NASA astronaut Anil Menon completed a six-hour and 23-minute spacewalk outside the International Space Station on August 18, 2026. The mission, designated as US Spacewalk 97, aimed to replace a malfunctioning Space-to-Ground antenna (SGANT) on the Z1 truss segment, a critical component for high-speed data and voice communications between the station and Mission Control in Houston.

While the astronauts successfully removed the faulty antenna, technical difficulties and unexpected mechanical obstacles—including difficulty disconnecting power and data connectors—prevented the installation of the replacement unit. Due to these time constraints, mission controllers have postponed the installation to a future extravehicular activity.

This mission marks a historic milestone as Sophie Adenot becomes the first French woman to perform a spacewalk. The operation was monitored from inside the station by commander Jessica Meir and flight engineer Jack Hathaway, who operated the Canadarm2 robotic arm to assist the pair.