SMILE Program
The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) is a joint European Space Agency–Chinese Academy of Sciences space-science mission studying how the solar wind interacts with Earth’s magnetosphere. Launched on 19 May 2026, it reached its designated science orbit in June 2026 and is commissioning its instruments ahead of science operations planned for September 2026. ESA supplies the payload module, launcher, and instruments; CAS supplies the spacecraft platform and three instruments and operates the spacecraft in orbit.
Identity
- Aliases
- SMILESolar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link ExplorerSMILE MissionSmile mission
- Domains
- spaceflight
- Name
- SMILE Program
- Status
- active
- Types
- scienceresearchoperations
Details
- Description
- The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) is a joint European Space Agency–Chinese Academy of Sciences space-science mission studying how the solar wind interacts with Earth’s magnetosphere. Launched on 19 May 2026, it reached its designated science orbit in June 2026 and is commissioning its instruments ahead of science operations planned for September 2026. ESA supplies the payload module, launcher, and instruments; CAS supplies the spacecraft platform and three instruments and operates the spacecraft in orbit.
- Leads
- Parent Program
- Participants
- Start Date
- 2026-05-19
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 13, 2026 at 13:33:30 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 13, 2026 at 13:33:30 UTC