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NASA advances DAPHNE twin-satellite concept to improve space-weather forecasting

NASA has selected the DAPHNE mission concept for development, using twin satellites to study how space weather interacts with Earth’s atmosphere. The goal is to refine predictions of space-weather impacts on key technologies—such as GPS, low Earth orbit operations, and human activity in space.

Discovered 2026-06-18T14:43:19.442851-07:00 | 2026-06-18T14:43:19.442851-07:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

DAPHNE is designed to improve end-to-end space-weather forecasting by directly measuring atmosphere–space interactions, supporting better risk management for systems such as GPS and satellites in low Earth orbit.
The move adds to the agency’s growing space-weather portfolio, including the NASA–U.S. Space Force ring-current mission campaign (NASA and U.S. Space Force to launch space-weather mission to probe Earth’s ring current).
By focusing on atmosphere-driven effects rather than only solar/near-space measurements, DAPHNE complements European formation-flying approaches that trace solar-wind features back to their source regions (e.g., ESA’s Proba-3 coronagraph begins solar-wind tracking).

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