# SpaceNexus Daily, Thursday, October 29, 2026: NASA is two spacewalks from finishing station upgrade, Spaceflight Now says

> Spaceflight Now reports NASA is two spacewalks from finishing the station upgrade; Universe Today reports a Rubin dwarf planet candidate; two launches are scheduled.

- Canonical page: https://spacenexus.us/briefing/2026-10-29
- This Markdown version: https://spacenexus.us/briefing/2026-10-29.md
- Data as of: published 2026-10-29 06:05 UTC; records from 2026-10-28 06:00 UTC to 2026-10-29 06:00 UTC
- How the numbers are made: https://spacenexus.us/methodology#ai-content

## About this edition

- AI-generated briefing, AI voice. This briefing is AI-generated: an AI model wrote the script from SpaceNexus records and the sources listed, two independent AI passes checked every claim against those records and the web, and an AI voice reads it. No sponsor, advertiser or partner has any part in it.
- How it was checked: All 27 claims in the script were checked one by one against the SpaceNexus records listed below, by two independent AI fact-checkers that did not write it, one of them also searching the web; every number, date and time was matched to the records by code. It publishes only if every claim passes.

## Transcript

This is SpaceNexus Daily, for Thursday, October 29, 2026.

### Space stocks and money

In the trading session of Wednesday, October 28, the SpaceNexus Pure-Play Index of space stocks rose 1 percent, with 19 companies up and 15 down. The largest gain was Viasat, up 11.3 percent, and the largest decline was Satellogic, down 3.5 percent. hrtoday.in reported that Sierra Space named Daniel Gittsovich Chief Financial Officer.

Sources: [SpaceNexus Pure-Play Index (Yahoo Finance daily close)](https://spacenexus.us/markets-daily); [SpaceNexus Pure-Play Index (Yahoo Finance daily close)](https://spacenexus.us/company-profiles/viasat); [SpaceNexus Pure-Play Index (Yahoo Finance daily close)](https://spacenexus.us/company-profiles/satellogic); [hrtoday.in](https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMijwFBVV95cUxQamZOZjNBdnctZkp6dENwRnZ5UUdPY2pYZjVOR3ZnbmptT0xHYkpLSjFXc1pEWk56dW1ZdHhCd09zeTVDSmRCZVo5YXdvUXBYZ3hMcEtXVHpfSVBnZlZ4WWpsTmpQOHd1ZVVVVjM3c0ZMQjVSMFpjNkk4WXhWMGJiZFN4VzR3WjJSNU0zLVhnMA?oc=5)

### Station upgrade nears completion

Spaceflight Now reported that NASA is two spacewalks away from completing a major, years-long upgrade to the International Space Station. The upgrade will power the orbiting lab through to its planned decommissioning in 2030. The two spacewalks are on October 29 and November 5, the report says.

Sources: [Spaceflight Now](https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/10/28/nasa-nears-end-of-space-station-solar-array-upgrade-with-oct-29-and-nov-5-spacewalks/)

### Rubin finds dwarf planet candidate

Universe Today reported that the Vera Rubin Observatory found a dwarf planet candidate named 2026 ED138. If confirmed, it will be one of the largest dwarf planets beyond Neptune, and it may be up to 1500 km in diameter.

Sources: [Universe Today](https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-rubin-observatory-finds-its-first-dwarf-planet-candidate)

### Virgin Galactic's new space plane

Universe Today reported that Virgin Galactic unveiled an updated Delta-class suborbital space plane with an exotic name. Its headline says the company flew the plane to a new home.

Sources: [Universe Today](https://www.universetoday.com/articles/virgin-galactic-flies-next-gen-space-plane-to-new-home-with-new-name)

### Launches ahead

Two launches are ahead. The GSLV Mk II mission IRNSS-1L (NVS-03) is scheduled to launch from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India, no earlier than 18:21 UTC on October 30. SpaceX's Falcon 9 Starlink Group 15-18 is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg SFB no earlier than 03:48 UTC on October 31.

Sources: [Launch Library 2](https://spacenexus.us/launch/cmsu7zf7603fnlrurjx43veih); [Launch Library 2](https://spacenexus.us/launch/cmvfcpi822tg2ltauzf6uun3m)

### Jobs board

The SpaceNexus jobs board lists 11,045 job postings, about 9,800 distinct roles, as of October 29, and 742 of the postings were posted in the last 7 days.

Sources: [SpaceNexus jobs board](https://spacenexus.us/jobs)

Full details and sources are at spacenexus.us.


## Sources

- [SpaceNexus Pure-Play Index (SpaceNexus Pure-Play Index (Yahoo Finance daily close))](https://spacenexus.us/markets-daily)
- [Viasat (VSAT) (SpaceNexus Pure-Play Index (Yahoo Finance daily close))](https://spacenexus.us/company-profiles/viasat)
- [Satellogic (SATL) (SpaceNexus Pure-Play Index (Yahoo Finance daily close))](https://spacenexus.us/company-profiles/satellogic)
- [Daniel Gittsovich, Sierra Space (hrtoday.in)](https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMijwFBVV95cUxQamZOZjNBdnctZkp6dENwRnZ5UUdPY2pYZjVOR3ZnbmptT0xHYkpLSjFXc1pEWk56dW1ZdHhCd09zeTVDSmRCZVo5YXdvUXBYZ3hMcEtXVHpfSVBnZlZ4WWpsTmpQOHd1ZVVVVjM3c0ZMQjVSMFpjNkk4WXhWMGJiZFN4VzR3WjJSNU0zLVhnMA?oc=5)
- [NASA nears end of space station solar array upgrade with Oct. 29 and Nov. 5 spacewalks (Spaceflight Now)](https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/10/28/nasa-nears-end-of-space-station-solar-array-upgrade-with-oct-29-and-nov-5-spacewalks/)
- [The Rubin Observatory Finds Its First Dwarf Planet Candidate (Universe Today)](https://www.universetoday.com/articles/the-rubin-observatory-finds-its-first-dwarf-planet-candidate)
- [Virgin Galactic Flies Next-Gen Space Plane to New Home With New Name (Universe Today)](https://www.universetoday.com/articles/virgin-galactic-flies-next-gen-space-plane-to-new-home-with-new-name)
- [GSLV Mk II | IRNSS-1L (NVS-03) (Launch Library 2)](https://spacenexus.us/launch/cmsu7zf7603fnlrurjx43veih)
- [Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 15-18 (Launch Library 2)](https://spacenexus.us/launch/cmvfcpi822tg2ltauzf6uun3m)
- [SpaceNexus jobs board (SpaceNexus jobs board)](https://spacenexus.us/jobs)

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