The data collected by SMILE will improve modeling of the space environment and understanding of space weather effects on technological infrastructure.
SMILE (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) is dedicated to studying the interaction between solar wind and the Earth's magnetosphere.
The Vega-C rocket is designed by Avio for scientific and institutional missions and is suitable for placing SMILE into its intended orbit.
Smile is a joint mission between the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The SMILE Vega-C launch will take place from the European spaceport in French Guiana between April 8 and May 7, 2026.
Final launch preparations for Smile will begin after its arrival in French Guiana.
SMILE integrates both European and Chinese instruments to observe phenomena such as auroras and geomagnetic storms.
SPP II missions include the Einstein Probe, which launched in early 2025, and the upcoming Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) in collaboration with the European Space Agency.
SMILE was selected from a pool of 13 potential missions proposed to ESA and CAS in response to a joint call for mission concepts in 2015.
The SMILE spacecraft will be launched by the European light-lift Vega C from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, with the launch currently expected in late 2025.
SMILE is the first mission since the 1990s Double Star mission that ESA and China have selected, designed, implemented, launched, and operated together.
SMILE is expected to be launched in April 2025 as stated by China’s National Space Science Center (NSSC).
SMILE will operate in a highly inclined, highly elliptical Earth orbit with an apogee that reaches approximately one third of the distance to the Moon.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences provides the propulsion module, service module, satellite bus, mission operations, and Chinese-developed instruments for SMILE.
SPP II missions include the Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky Monitor (GECAM), which launched in 2020, and the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) in collaboration with the European Space Agency.
The SPP II missions include the Einstein Probe, the Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky Monitor (GECAM) which launched in 2020, the Advanced space-based Solar Observatory (ASO-S) launching 2022, and the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) in collaboration with the European Space Agency.
Other missions in the Strategic Priority Program second phase include GECAM, ASO-S due to launch in 2022, and SMILE for which ESA recently shipped a module to China.