The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE), a collaborative mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), was successfully launched on Tuesday aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
Following liftoff, the satellite entered its planned orbit, with solar arrays deployed and all systems operating normally, marking the success of the landmark China-Europe joint mission.
The SMILE mission aims to deepen scientists’ understanding of the complex interactions between the solar wind and Earth’s magnetosphere. Its primary scientific objective is to achieve the first panoramic imaging of the coupling process, dynamically revealing the underlying mechanisms. The mission is regarded as a major international milestone in both science and engineering.