Spaceflight Daily Report, Thursday 18th June 2026

Image credit: NASA

Selection of DAPHNE Mission

NASA have announced the selection of a mission named DAPHNE, short for Dynamic Atmosphere-Ionosphere Explorer, to research space weather prediction for protecting people and electronics from radiation. It will consist of a pair of twin satellites studying how changes in the lower atmosphere affect weather in the ionosphere, which is where most spacecraft orbit. This mission was selected from among three proposals for studying space weather, as recommended by a NASA decadal review back in 2013. There will be a review of the mission's development in 2027, and if confirmed it will aim to launch in 2029. [Source: NASA]

Blue Origin Reconstruction Efforts

Blue Origin have begun reconstruction of their pad at Cape Canaveral, which was largely destroyed when the company's New Glenn rocket violently exploded during a static fire test three weeks ago. Blue Origin are still aiming to return to flight before the end of the year, which is vital if they want New Glenn to remain a part of the American lunar program. New Glenn is supposed to be the rocket that carries their Blue Moon landers into space, with two major missions requiring the rocket next year; Moon Base I, which will be their first attempt to land a cargo vehicle on the Moon, and Artemis III, where a prototype version of their crewed lander is meant to rendezvous with NASA's Orion spacecraft in low Earth orbit. [Source: SpaceNews]

Artemis III Crew Begin Training

The crew of the Artemis III mission began training today with the scale mockup of the Orion spacecraft at Johnson Space Center. Mission commander Randy Bresnik, pilot Luca Parmitano, and mission specialists Frank Rubio and Andre Douglas will head to space atop an SLS rocket, currently aiming to launch in 2027. Backup mission specialist Robert Hines is also training with them. [Source: NASA]

International Space Station Activities

NASA published their daily blog post on the crew's activities aboard the International Space Station. The crew carried out routine research and maintenance. [Source: NASA]

Death of Aleksandr Samokutyaev

It's been announced that Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Samokutyaev passed away yesterday (Wednesday 17th) at the age of 56. He served as a flight engineer on Expedition 27 to the International Space Station in 2011, making him the 518th human to orbit the Earth (521st above 100km, 527th above 50mi), and he was also on Expedition 41 in 2014. During his career he racked up 331 days in space, and 10 hours of spacewalks. He is the first former ISS crew to pass away. [Source: Roscosmos]