Spaceflight Daily Report, Monday 15th June 2026

Image credit: Astrobotic

Launch of 8 x Jilin-1

CAS Space launched a Kinetica 1 (Lijian-1) rocket from Jiuquan in Gansu at 0344 UTC, or 1144 local time (CST). This was carrying a batch of eight satellites to Sun-synchronous orbit for the Jilin-1 commercial Earth observation constellation. It was the 14th flight of the Kinetica 1, and this flight made it the first commercial Chinese rocket to deliver a hundred satellites to orbit. [Source: CAS Space]

Launch of Starlink Group 17-54

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg in California at 1534 UTC, or 0834 local time (PDT). This was carrying Starlink Group 17-54, a batch of 24 satellites for the constellation. It was the 652nd launch of the Falcon 9, and the 14th flight of booster B1093, which successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean. [Source: SpaceX]

Scrub of "Onward and Upward"

The second test flight of Isar Aerospace's Spectrum rocket, due to launch from Andøya in Norway today, was scrubbed due to problems with the vehicle's fluid systems. Spectrum's first attempt to reach orbit in March 2025 ended in an explosive failure. [Source: Isar Aerospace]

Reveal of Griffin-1 Lunar Lander

Astrobotic have revealed their Griffin-1 lunar lander, which will fly on the mission designated as Moon Base II by NASA and currently aiming for launch in November. It will carry Astrolab's FLIP rover and Astrobotic's own CubeRover. This will be Astrobotic's second attempt to land on the Moon. Their previous attempt in 2024 ended in failure after a propellant leak meant it didn't have enough fuel to get there. The mission will help explore the lunar south pole ahead of future crewed missions. [Source: Astrobotic]

Zvezda Docking Port Retirement

Following a dramatic episode ten days ago where NASA ordered its astronauts to take refuge in the Crew Dragon spacecraft while Roscosmos ordered its cosmonauts to saw into a load-bearing bracket to try to reach and seal a crack in the Zvezda module's aft docking port, Roscosmos have now agreed to retire the PrK module which will render the docking port defunct. The timing of this retirement has not yet been announced, and there is currently a Progress cargo vehicle docked there. [Source: Ars Technica]

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. The astronauts finished packing up the Cargo Dragon (C209) docked at the Harmony module's forward docking port, which is due to undock tomorrow and return to Earth, marking the end of the CRS-34 mission. They also prepared for an upcoming spacewalk. The Russian cosmonauts carried out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]