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• Jeff Foust
NASA and Advanced Space are developing a pair of small satellites as a follow-on to the CAPSTONE CubeSat mission. The spacecraft will test rendezvous and proximity operations around the moon, advancing capabilities needed for future lunar missions and more complex cislunar activity.
NASA
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NASA and Advanced Space are developing a pair of small satellites as a follow-on to the CAPSTONE CubeSat mission. The spacecraft will test rendezvous and proximity operations around the moon, advancing capabilities needed for future lunar missions and more complex cislunar activity.
High activity
ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and NASA astronaut Anil Menon conducted a spacewalk on Aug. 18, 2026, to remove a faulty antenna from the International Space Station. The repair underscores the continuing role of extravehicular activity in maintaining critical ISS systems.
A team of NASA satellites successfully demonstrated navigation without GPS in what NASA describes as the world’s first “lost-in-space” experiment. The result is enabling the satellites to extend their mission in orbit and validates alternative navigation methods for spacecraft operating beyond conventional GPS coverage.
NASA astronaut Anil Menon and French astronaut Sophie Adenot will conduct a spacewalk Aug. 25 to replace a failed space-to-ground antenna on the International Space Station. NASA will provide live coverage of the extravehicular activity, which is intended to restore the station’s communications capability.
High activity
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is entering the final phase of launch preparations at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, following its June arrival. Teams have completed several integration and rehearsal milestones ahead of the scheduled Aug. 30 liftoff, bringing the observatory closer to operations designed to expand space-based astronomical research.
Eight early-stage companies have joined a national accelerator pairing International Space Station access with private investment, while NASA highlights next-generation commercial cargo landers intended to support a sustained human presence on the Moon. Together, the efforts connect near-term microgravity commercialization with longer-term lunar infrastructure development.
NASA has selected 18 proposals for Innovative Advanced Concepts awards, funding early-stage research into unconventional spaceflight technologies. The concepts include a swarm of 10,000 tiny “femtosats” for Saturn, underscoring the agency’s effort to explore high-risk ideas that could shape future planetary missions.
A tour of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston highlights how the agency and private industry are already shaping the future of human spaceflight. The astronaut-training hub will need to evolve as commercial space stations expand the range of destinations and operational models beyond the ISS.
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