The satellite should stay in orbit for about three months serving as a target for Russian engineers working on computer models that evaluate orbital tracking.

Other tasks on the spacewalkers’ to-do list include retrieving a briefcase-sized experiment that has been exposing various materials to the harsh environment of space.

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, both station flight engineers, are scheduled to make a spacewalk on August 30 to replace a power relay unit on the station’s truss, set up power cables for the Russian laboratory module scheduled to launch next year and install a thermal cover on a docking port.