Europe and China launch SMILE satellite to study Earth’s magnetic shield

Tuesday 19 May 2026 - 10:22

By: Dakir Madiha

Europe and China launch SMILE satellite to study Earth’s magnetic shield

The SMILE spacecraft, a joint mission between the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has successfully launched from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, marking the first flagship scientific collaboration between the two space institutions focused on Earth’s magnetosphere.

The satellite lifted off aboard a Vega-C rocket early Monday and separated from the launcher roughly 56 minutes after takeoff at 03:52 UTC on May 19. After deployment, SMILE activated its solar panels and entered its initial orbit phase, beginning a month-long journey toward its final highly elliptical trajectory around Earth.

SMILE, short for Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer, is designed to study how the solar wind interacts with Earth’s magnetic field and upper atmosphere. The mission will use soft X-ray imaging for the first time on this scale to capture wide-angle views of how the magnetosphere responds to streams of charged particles emitted by the Sun. Its instrument suite includes a soft X-ray imager, an ultraviolet imager, a light ion analyzer and a magnetometer, which will work together to record both remote imaging and in-situ measurements.

The spacecraft weighs about 2,250 kilograms and will use its propulsion system over the next month to reach a polar orbit with a highly elongated shape. At its furthest point, or apogee, SMILE will travel to about 121,000 kilometers from Earth, roughly one-third of the distance to the Moon, before returning to a perigee of about 5,000 kilometers. Scientists expect initial scientific data within three months, with the mission planned to operate for at least three years.

The United Kingdom played a central role in the mission by providing the primary soft X-ray imaging instrument and co-leading the international scientific consortium. The instrument was developed through a collaboration involving the University of Leicester, the Mullard Space Science Laboratory and the Open University, with support from the UK Space Agency. Data collected during SMILE’s polar passes will be transmitted through a German Antarctic receiving station operated by the German Aerospace Center.

The launch also marked the first flight of the Vega-C rocket under operational management by Avio. European space officials approved the SMILE mission in 2019 under the Cosmic Vision programme, aiming to deepen understanding of space weather and its effects on Earth’s near-space environment.

Researchers hope the mission will provide the first global images of magnetospheric structures shaped by solar activity, including features that may resemble a “smiling” pattern formed by polar cusps and boundary interactions between solar wind and Earth’s magnetic shield.