Space News for Thursday, June 18, 2026

In this episode, we aggregate and summarize today's top space news stories. Enjoy!(00:10) Podcast Introduction(00:22) Relativity Space to privately develop Mars orbiter mission(01:03) Dawn Aerospace raises $25 million(01:46) Arianespace launches its heaviest payload to date with Amazon Leo flight(02:34) Direct-to-Device Momentum: AST SpaceMobile Successfully Launches Giant Next-Gen BlueBird Satellites Atop SpaceX Falcon 9(02:48) Space Weather Forecasting: Momentus Secures Commercial Payload Contract for Vigoride-9 OSV(03:28) Sovereign Microgravity: Elethron and ATMOS Space Cargo Finalize Low-Earth Orbit Payload Engineering Campaign(03:47) U.S. viewership of the 2026 World Cup via satellite television is strong and easily accessible(04:17) Space-Quantum Convergence: INNOSPACE and Norma Partner for In-Orbit Quantum Computing Demonstrations(04:54) NASA Announces Public-Private Partnership to Advance Mars Science(05:10) Hubble Sees Swarm of Galaxies(05:56) Terran R second stage heads to Stennis as Relativity advances toward 2026 debut(06:36) Launch Preview: 10 launches scheduled from sites across the world(07:13) Instinct Space Unveils Plans for Low-Cost Lunar Landers(08:00) Katalyst Raises $12M to Extend Satellite Servicing to GEO(08:40) One of these twin stars has likely been snacking on exoplanets(09:19) James Webb Space Telescope discovers extreme exoplanet being roasted by its home star(10:05) A volcanic eruption seen from space | Space photo of the day for June 17, 2026(10:47) Was life delivered to Earth by asteroids with a helping hand from Jupiter?(11:27) 'Best. Mars. Mission. Ever.' Scientists hail MAVEN's legacy as NASA retires Red Planet orbiter