The UltraViolet Imager on SMILE is a joint venture between the University of Calgary, the Chinese National Space Science Centre, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Polar Research Institute of China, and Centre Spatial de Liège in Belgium.
SMILE was jointly developed and will be jointly operated by European and Chinese teams from concept through its several-year operational life.
SMILE is a joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
The Light Ion Analyser on SMILE is a joint venture between the Chinese National Space Science Centre, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, University College London’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory, and the Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas in France.
The SMILE spacecraft (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) was fully assembled and tested in the Netherlands about one year after its arrival there in two separate shipments.
MN Colibri is transporting SMILE to French Guiana for final pre-launch preparations.
ESA plans to deliver SMILE into orbit from the Ensemble de Lancement Vega launch pad between April 8 and May 7.
For sea transport, the SMILE spacecraft is stored in a specialized transportation container that regularly flushes nitrogen to exclude moisture and oxygen.
The UK Space Agency contributed the Soft X-ray Imager for SMILE, which was developed by the University of Leicester and The Open University.
The UK Space Agency will be scrapped in April, a week before the earliest possible launch of SMILE.
The dry-nitrogen purge of SMILE’s container removes oxygen, water vapor, and other potential contaminants from the container atmosphere.
Upon arrival in French Guiana, SMILE will be taken to the European-owned Guiana Space Centre for around eight weeks of testing and integration with a Vega-C rocket.
SMILE is scheduled to launch on the Vega-C VV29 mission no earlier than April 8th.
SMILE will study the solar wind and its interaction with Earth’s magnetosphere.
Smile will provide the longest continuous observation of the Northern Lights ever achieved through its complementary ultraviolet imaging.
Smile will capture video and X-ray images of how solar wind collides with the Earth's protective magnetic bubble.
A joint mission with China named Smile is set to launch next year.
Smile will utilize X-ray and UV cameras, along with particle and magnetic field detectors, to study how Earth reacts to solar radiation.
The SMILE Vega-C launch passed the qualification and flight acceptance review on November 20, 2025.
The milestone achievement highlights the technological maturity of SMILE's onboard systems, bringing the mission closer to its operational debut expected in spring 2026.