Smile carries the Light Ion Analyzer, which will collect solar wind particles to measure the impact of solar storms.
Smile carries the Soft X-ray Imager, which will image Earth's magnetic field.
Smile will be the first spacecraft to carry out detailed, long-duration X-ray observations of the magnetosphere.
Smile will send data to ground stations from a location about 5,000 kilometers above the South Pole.
SMILE is scheduled to launch atop Vega-C on April 9, with launch opportunities available until May 7.
SMILE will weigh 2,300 kilograms when fully completed.
SMILE was fueled with 1,500 kilograms of propellant into its China-made platform module.
SMILE is designed to study Earth’s magnetosphere, solar wind, and the effects of coronal mass ejections from the Sun.
SMILE will maneuver into a 121,000-by-5,000-kilometer science orbit between five and 30 days after launch.
Vega-C will place SMILE into a circular 700-kilometer Earth orbit about 57 minutes after liftoff.
Avio will launch the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) scientific satellite for ESA and CAS Science on 9 April 2026.
SMILE is the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer.
SMILE will raise itself from a 700 km orbit to a 5,000 x 121,000 km orbit after deployment.
Vega-C VV29 will deploy SMILE into a 700 km orbit.
SMILE is a collaboration between ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
SMILE is scheduled to launch on a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport on Thursday 9 April at 08:29 CEST.
Avio’s SMILE launch is scheduled for 03:29 local time, 06:29 UTC, and 08:29 CEST on 9 April 2026.
SMILE will study how Earth responds to the solar wind from the Sun.
SMILE is a joint ESA-CAS mission.
Smile traveled to the Guiana Space Centre together with the Vega-C upper stage, and the Vega-C upper stage will remain attached to Smile until the last moment before placing it into a precise Earth orbit.