Spaceflight Smile: Understanding Solar Storms, Geomagnetic Storms, and Space Weather

Related Vendors

dataTec AG

Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessory Builders' Association (TMBA)

On May 19, 2026, the space probe SMILE was launched aboard a Vega-C rocket from the European spaceport in French Guiana. As a joint project of the ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, SMILE aims to show how the Earth responds to particle streams and radiation bursts from the Sun.

Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer, or Smile for short, will use four scientific instruments to study how the Earth reacts to the solar wind. In this way, Smile will improve the understanding of solar storms, geomagnetic storms and the science of space weather. ESA is responsible for providing Smile's payload module, one of the four scientific instruments of the spacecraft, namely the soft X-ray imager, SXI, the launcher and the facilities and services for assembly, integration and testing. ESA will contribute to a second scientific instrument, the ultraviolet imager, UVI, and to mission operations once Smile is in orbit.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) is providing the other three scientific instruments and the spacecraft platform and is responsible for operating the spacecraft in orbit.

"We are about to experience something we have never seen before - Earth's invisible protective shell in action," explains ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher. "With Smile, we are pushing the boundaries of science to answer big questions that have remained a mystery since our discovery over seventy years ago that the Earth lies safely within a giant magnetic bubble." David Agnolon, Project Manager for Smile at ESA adds: "Smile will shed light on the mysteries of the Earth's magnetic field. The mission is made possible by a seamless collaboration between ESA and CAS, with contributions from partners across Europe. It is the first time that ESA and China have jointly selected, designed, implemented, launched and operated a mission, and we are all very excited about the significant scientific discoveries we expect from Smile over the next three years."

How Does the Defense Against the Solar Wind Work?

For almost four billion years, the Earth has maintained a huge protective shield against the relentless onslaught of charged particles from the sun. This solar wind can damage anything in its path, especially when it builds up into solar storms. The solar wind would turn the green and blue Earth into a rocky brown wasteland if it weren't for the magnetic field that is created deep inside our planet. This magnetic field forms a huge protective bubble around the Earth, the magnetosphere.

For the first time in history, humanity has reached a point where scientific instruments and technologies are advanced enough to explain how this defense against the solar wind works. Smile is equipped with a set of instruments designed to provide the first comprehensive insight into how the Earth's magnetic field responds to the Sun's relentless assault.

The Earth's magnetic field is viewed with X-ray eyes to reveal where and how it is affected by the solar wind. This interaction triggers disturbances - from small sub-storms to large geomagnetic storms - which propagate through the magnetosphere towards the north and south poles. There, the magnetic storms trigger a spectacle of light, the aurora. Smile will record the Northern Lights using ultraviolet radiation for 45 hours at a time, making it the first mission to observe them for such a long time and the first since 2008 to observe the entire circle of the aurora around the North Pole in ultraviolet light.

By comparing the X-ray and ultraviolet images, it is possible to follow in real time how the Earth reacts to the onslaught of the solar wind.

Data Collection Starts in July

Over the next month, Smile will slowly gain altitude through eleven engine firings and eventually land in an extremely elliptical orbit that will take it 121,000 km above the North Pole to collect data before descending to 5,000 km above the South Pole to efficiently transmit this data to the eagerly awaiting scientists on Earth.

Data collection will begin in earnest in July, after the team has deployed the booms, opened the camera covers and confirmed that everything is working as expected.

Cooperation Made in Europe

Smile is an international project with important European contributions. On behalf of ESA, Airbus Defense and Space built the Smile payload module in Spain. This crucial part of the spacecraft houses three of the mission's four scientific instruments - including the X-ray and ultraviolet cameras as well as the control unit for the instruments and the communication channel through which all valuable scientific data is sent back to Earth.

Europe was also responsible for the X-ray camera, Smile's largest instrument. Commissioned by ESA, this camera was developed and built in the UK by the University of Leicester in collaboration with the Mullard Space Science Laboratory and the Open University, as well as several other institutions across Europe.

Institutes and companies from 14 European countries were involved in the development of the payload module and the X-ray camera, with the United Kingdom and Spain making the largest contributions.

ESA's financial contribution to the mission amounts to 130 million euros (approx. USD 153 million) and includes over 25 procurement contracts with more than 40 companies and institutes. All ESA member states contribute indirectly through the Agency's science program, with the average contribution to Smile being around 28 cents per European citizen. (se)