NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Anil Menon ventured outside the International Space Station Thursday morning for a spacewalk expected to last roughly six and a half hours, kicking off the first of three planned excursions the space agency will conduct in August to continue upgrading the orbiting laboratory’s aging power systems.

The spacewalk, designated U.S. Spacewalk 96, began at approximately 8:35 a.m. Eastern time, with NASA’s live coverage starting at 7 a.m. Eastern on the agency’s free NASA+ streaming app, as well as on Amazon Prime and YouTube. Netflix, which had provided coverage of the space station’s previous spacewalk, did not host a livestream for Thursday’s excursion.

Preparing the Station for Its Next Solar Array

Meir and Menon exited the station’s Quest airlock to install hardware that will modify the station’s 3B power channel, laying the groundwork for the future installation of the next International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Array, commonly known as an iROSA. The array Meir and Menon are preparing for will be the seventh of eight such roll-out arrays installed over the station’s existing solar panels to boost its overall electrical power output, part of a broader upgrade effort NASA has described as critical to sustaining station operations through its planned final years before deorbiting.

Mission managers gave the pair formal approval to proceed with the spacewalk Wednesday, according to NASA, clearing the way for the astronauts to spend roughly seven hours in the vacuum of space building the modification kit on the station’s Starboard 6 truss segment, where the new solar array is slated to be installed later this year.

A First Spacewalk for Menon, a Sixth for Meir

Thursday’s excursion marks a significant career milestone for Menon, who is conducting his first-ever spacewalk. Menon, a physician trained in neurobiology at Harvard and holding a medical degree from Stanford, also serves as a mechanical engineer and colonel in the U.S. Space Force. Before joining NASA’s 2021 astronaut class, Menon served as SpaceX’s first flight surgeon, the physician responsible for certifying crew members as medically fit to fly aboard the company’s Demo-2 mission and subsequent Crew Dragon flights. As an emergency medicine physician, he previously served as a first responder following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, and the 2011 Reno Air Show accident. He arrived at the space station aboard the Soyuz MS-29 spacecraft on July 14, launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome alongside Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina.

Meir, meanwhile, is making her sixth career spacewalk, having first traveled to the space station between 2019 and 2020. She most recently conducted a spacewalk on June 30 alongside NASA astronaut Chris Williams. Meir currently serves as commander of Expedition 75 aboard the station. During Thursday’s spacewalk, NASA said Meir would be identifiable by the red stripes on her spacesuit, while Menon’s suit would remain unmarked, the standard method mission control uses to help distinguish between spacewalking crew members during television coverage.

A Notable Family Milestone

Thursday’s spacewalk also carries a distinctive personal footnote for the Menon family. Anil Menon’s wife, Anna Menon, a former SpaceX operations engineer, conducted the first commercial spacewalk in history during the Polaris Dawn mission in September 2024. With Anil Menon’s spacewalk Thursday, both members of the Menon household will have now conducted a spacewalk, a distinction NASA and spaceflight observers have noted as unusual even among the relatively small community of people who have ventured outside a spacecraft while in orbit.

Part of a Broader August Upgrade Campaign

Thursday’s excursion is the first in a series of three spacewalks NASA has scheduled for August as part of an ongoing effort to upgrade the station’s solar power infrastructure, replace aging communications equipment, and maintain critical systems aboard the orbiting laboratory. U.S. Spacewalk 97, scheduled for Aug. 13, will focus on replacing a Space-to-Ground communications antenna, the radio system the station relies on to relay voice communications, high-definition video and telemetry data back to mission control. A third spacewalk, U.S. Spacewalk 98, is planned for later in the month and is expected to again feature Meir, this time alongside European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot, based on identifications made during a NASA briefing in late July.

Collectively, the three August spacewalks represent the 281st, 282nd and 283rd spacewalks conducted in support of International Space Station assembly, maintenance and upgrades since the station’s construction began, according to NASA. Thursday’s spacewalk specifically marks the fourth spacewalk conducted at the station so far in 2026, and the third this year to feature an all-NASA astronaut crew.

A Preview Briefing Ahead of the Excursions

NASA held a news conference on July 30 at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to preview the upcoming series of spacewalks, featuring Bill Spetch, deputy manager of the Commercial, Low Earth Orbit Program, along with spacewalk flight directors Chris Dobbins and Chloe Mehring. During that briefing, officials outlined the broader goals of the August spacewalk campaign, emphasizing the importance of continuing to upgrade the station’s power generation capacity as NASA works to sustain operations aboard the aging outpost.

Continuing a Long-Term Power Upgrade Effort

The iROSA program that Thursday’s spacewalk supports has been underway for several years, with NASA gradually installing the roll-out solar arrays over the station’s original, aging solar panels to boost overall power generation without requiring a full replacement of the station’s existing power infrastructure. Thursday’s work on the 3B power channel represents a preparatory step ahead of the physical installation of the seventh array, with the eighth and presumably final array in the current upgrade series expected to follow in a subsequent mission.

With Thursday’s spacewalk expected to conclude after roughly six and a half to seven hours outside the station, attention will next turn to the Aug. 13 excursion, when a different focus, replacing the station’s Space-to-Ground communications antenna, will take priority. Together, the three planned August spacewalks reflect NASA’s continued investment in maintaining the International Space Station’s operational systems as the agency works to keep the orbiting laboratory functioning through its planned lifespan in the years ahead.

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SHANGHAI — Shares of CXMT Corp fell 4.31% on Thursday, closing at 51.96 yuan after a session of steady selling that extended a pullback from the stock’s dramatic post-listing gains. The decline of 2.34 yuan came as investors continued to digest the memory chipmaker’s blockbuster initial public offering and the competitive realities of the global DRAM market.

Trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s STAR Market under the ticker 688825, the stock opened near 52.90 yuan and ranged between 51.13 yuan and 53.23 yuan before settling lower. Volume remained elevated, reflecting ongoing interest in one of China’s most closely watched new listings. The move followed a 1.27% drop the previous session and continued a pattern of volatility after the shares more than quintupled from their IPO price in late July.

CXMT, formally known as ChangXin Memory Technologies, debuted on July 27 with an offering price of 8.66 yuan. Shares opened at 49.50 yuan, surged as high as 55.03 yuan and closed the first day at 49 yuan, a gain of roughly 466%. That performance briefly lifted the company’s market capitalization above 3.2 trillion yuan and made it the largest company by value on mainland China’s exchanges, overtaking long-time leader Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

The IPO raised approximately 57.9 billion yuan, ranking as Asia’s largest listing of 2026 and the biggest semiconductor offering in STAR Market history. Only a small portion of shares, about 6.73% of the enlarged capital, was freely tradable at launch, contributing to sharp price swings. Subsequent sessions saw the stock climb further at times before profit-taking set in.

Company filings and market reports show strong recent operating momentum. First-quarter 2026 revenue reached 50.8 billion yuan, up more than 700% from a year earlier, with gross margin expanding to 79.16% and net profit attributable to shareholders of 24.76 billion yuan. Management has guided for first-half revenue of 110 billion to 120 billion yuan and net profit of 50 billion to 57 billion yuan, reflecting the sharp recovery in DRAM pricing driven by tight supply and robust demand from artificial intelligence applications.

CXMT ranks as the world’s fourth-largest DRAM producer by volume, behind Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology. The company has expanded its customer base among Chinese technology firms and has begun supplying limited volumes of memory chips for budget notebooks sold by brands including HP, Asus and Acer outside the United States. Reports also indicate ongoing discussions with major domestic internet companies for server DRAM supply.

Despite the growth, technological and geopolitical constraints remain central to the investment debate. CXMT lacks access to extreme ultraviolet lithography tools under existing export controls, limiting its ability to advance to the most cutting-edge process nodes used by its Korean and U.S. rivals. Analysts have noted that this gap is particularly relevant for high-bandwidth memory used in advanced AI accelerators, an area where the company lags by several years.

Market attention this week also focused on reports that Apple’s efforts to secure more favorable pricing from CXMT for mobile DRAM products such as LPDDR5X encountered resistance. The Chinese manufacturer reportedly declined to undercut the pricing of Samsung and SK Hynix, underscoring a shift in bargaining power toward memory suppliers amid shortages. Separate coverage highlighted CXMT’s absence from the exhibitor list at the Flash Memory Summit in Santa Clara, where Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron showcased AI-related memory roadmaps.

Additional industry updates pointed to CXMT preparing limited production of LPDDR6 smartphone memory around the end of 2026, a step that would narrow the technology gap with global leaders. The company is also said to be evaluating plans for a second 12-inch DRAM fabrication plant in Beijing’s Yizhuang district as Chinese localities compete to attract semiconductor investment.

Thursday’s decline occurred against a backdrop of broader pressure on memory-related stocks and profit-taking after the exceptional first-week performance. Main force funds had recorded net outflows in the prior session, according to market data trackers. The stock’s free-float constraints and high valuation multiples relative to historical earnings continue to amplify daily moves.

CXMT’s prospectus had cautioned that the memory market could weaken if artificial intelligence investment slowed or if rivals expanded capacity aggressively. At the same time, the company has benefited from customers seeking to diversify supply chains away from traditional dominant suppliers. Its ability to maintain elevated margins while scaling advanced products will remain a key focus for investors in the coming quarters.

The shares remain substantially above the IPO price even after the latest retreat. Trading continues to attract significant retail and institutional attention given the company’s position as China’s leading domestic DRAM producer and the strategic importance of semiconductor self-reliance policies.

As the memory industry navigates a period of elevated prices and capacity constraints, CXMT’s performance will serve as a closely watched barometer of both China’s progress in advanced chip manufacturing and the durability of the current upcycle. Thursday’s session underscored that the transition from private to public company brings new scrutiny of valuation, technology roadmap and competitive positioning alongside the celebration of a record-breaking listing.

As per a regulatory filing on Thursday, revenue from operations rose 17% YoY to Rs 35,244 crore, driven by healthy performance across the company’s businesses. Profit after tax surged 70.1% YoY to Rs 1,032 crore, while EBITDA grew 26% YoY to Rs 3,104 crore.

The company also announced the acquisition of Chinese tech firm Shenzhen Autocruis for $22.6 million in this quarter, through the Motherson subsidiary SMR Automotive (Langfang) Co., and completed the acquisitions of the Wiring Harness business of Nexans Autoelectric and Yutaka Giken in July. Collectively, these two acquisitions are expected to contribute nearly $2 Billion of annualized revenue.

Also Read | Motherson Q1 profit jumps 102%, revenue hits record

Motilal Oswal remains bullish

Domestic brokerage firm Motilal Oswal reiterated a BUY rating on the stock, with a revised target price of Rs 178. “We expect Motherson to continue to outperform global automobile sales, fueled by rising premiumization and EV transition, a robust order backlog in autos and non-autos, and successful integration of recent acquisitions.” The brokerage stated in its note.

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The current adverse global macro is likely to lead to industry consolidation, with players like Samvardhana Motherson International likely to emerge as key beneficiaries in the long run, according to the brokerage.
Over the years, the company has developed a well-diversified business model that focuses on its principle that no country, customer, or client should account for more than 10% of its revenue. This has helped the company achieve steady growth regardless of the end-market demand environment, as per the brokerage’s note.It is emerging as one of the major beneficiaries of the rising premiumization trend and EV transition, which in turn should drive higher content going forward. The closure of recent acquisitions provides huge growth opportunities as well, as these entities offer multiple synergy benefits, which include the company’s entry into the Japanese supplier network (Yachio + Ichikoh), evolution as a cockpit assembler (SAS), complementary new segment addition (Yachio + Dr. Schneider), and strong opportunities in aerospace and medical equipment.

Nomura sets target price of Rs 171

Domestic brokerage firm Nomura retains a BUY rating on Samvardhana Motherson International, with a target price of Rs 171, implying an upside of over 10%.

Our FY27F/28F/29F revenue growth is 11%/12%/18% above consensus, driven by the ramp-up of greenfield plants and strong growth in non-auto segments led by consumer electronics. The brokerage expects sustained margin improvement with operating leverage. With 6-7% free cash flow yields (FY28F/29F), further potential exists for acquisition-driven growth, it stated.

Management continues to work with customers to pass through higher input costs while driving cost optimisation initiatives, the brokerage stated in its report, as copper prices increased 4% QoQ and are up ~40% YoY, creating input cost pressures. These costs are typically passed on to customers with a 1-2 month lag, while overall commodity pass-through mechanisms generally

operate with a 3-6 month lag. Freight costs remained elevated, with the World Container Index up 40% YoY and 83% QoQ, resulting in additional logistics costs to ensure timely deliveries.

Any material import tax in US geography could impact Motherson’s key clients (e.g., Audi) and affect Motherson’s order book, which could be a key risk to achieving the target price. as per Nomura’s report.