Smile spacecraft ready for launch to study Earth’s response to solar activity

Before the Smile spacecraft can embark on its mission to investigate how Earth reacts to solar particle streams and radiation bursts from the Sun, it has undergone extensive preparations back on Earth. The final stages of its journey began at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, where the spacecraft was fueled and encased within its protective fairing, readying it for integration with the Vega-C rocket that will carry it into space.

Smile is set to launch aboard the Vega-C on flight VV29. This impressive rocket stands at 35 meters tall and weighs 210 tonnes while on the launch pad. The launch sequence involves three solid-propellant stages, followed by a fourth liquid-propellant stage, which will ensure a precise deployment of Smile into its intended orbit.

The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (Smile) is a collaborative mission between Europe and China, aimed at investigating the interplay between solar wind and Earth’s magnetic field from a uniquely high elliptical orbit. Over the course of the next three years, Smile will make bi-daily passes above the North Pole, capturing X-ray and ultraviolet imagery of Earth’s magnetic shield as well as the auroras.