Smile set to launch on 19 May

23/04/2026
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The European-Chinese Smile mission is due to launch on Tuesday 19 May 2026, at 05:52 CEST / 04:52 BST / 00:52 local time on a European Vega-C rocket.

The initial launch date was postponed as a precautionary measure, after a technical issue was identified on the production line of a Vega-C subsystem component. Both Smile and the Vega-C that will take it to space remain stable and safe.

Following the completion of careful investigations into the issue, all partners have agreed on 19 May as the new launch date.

Smile is a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). It will reveal how Earth responds to the streams of particles and bursts of radiation from the Sun, using an X-ray camera to make the first X-ray observations of Earth’s magnetic field, and an ultraviolet camera to watch the northern lights non-stop for 45 hours at a time.

Launch preparations are progressing well at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. In March, Smile was fuelled, integrated with the Vega-C rocket adapter, and enclosed inside the rocket fairing.

During the launch, the four stages of the Vega-C will separate one by one, before finally releasing Smile after 57 minutes. Smile’s solar panels will unfold after 63 minutes – the milestone that confirms launch success.

The launch will drop Smile off into a low-Earth orbit. From there, the spacecraft will take over to bring itself to its final, egg-shaped orbit that goes 121 000 km above the North Pole to collect data, before coming 5000 km above the South Pole to deliver it to waiting ground stations.

For the latest updates on the launch, visit our dedicated page and follow @science.esa.int and @transport.esa.int (Bluesky) and @esascience and @ESA_transport (X).

Our Smile launch kit is a set of infographics providing an overview of the mission, its science goals and the launch timeline. It is available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Chinese.

Our mission minisite gives an overview of all-things-Smile.

About Smile

Smile (the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) is a joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Smile will use four science instruments to study how Earth responds to the solar wind from the Sun. In doing so, Smile will improve our understanding of solar storms, geomagnetic storms and the science of space weather.

ESA is responsible for providing Smile’s payload module (which carries three of the four science instruments), one of the spacecraft’s four science instruments (the soft X-ray imager, SXI), the launcher, and the Assembly Integration and Testing facilities and services. ESA contributes to a second science instrument (the ultraviolet imager, UVI) and the mission operations once Smile is in orbit.

CAS provides the other three science instruments and the spacecraft platform, and is responsible for operating the spacecraft in orbit.

Smile is part of ESA’s Cosmic Vision programme, principally contributing to answering the question ‘How does the Solar System work?’

For more information, visit: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Smile

About Vega-C

Europe’s Vega-C rocket can launch 2300 kg into space, such as small scientific and Earth observation spacecraft. At 35 m tall, Vega-C weighs 210 tonnes on the launch pad and reaches orbit with three solid-propellant-powered stages before the fourth liquid-propellant stage takes over for precise placement of satellites into their desired orbit around Earth.

Complementing the Ariane family to launch all types of payloads into their desired orbits, Vega-C ensures that Europe has versatile and independent access to space. ESA leads the Vega-C programme, working with Avio as prime contractor and design authority. For this launch Avio is also launch service operator.

For more information, visit: https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Transportation/Vega/Vega-C

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