MilestoneSeptember 30, 2026

European-Chinese Smile mission begins science operations in Earth orbit

Following in-space commissioning, the joint Smile spacecraft is operational and ready to study how solar wind interacts with Earth's magnetosphere.

In the Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 46-47 crewmember Tim Kopra of NASA flashes a smile before entering his Soyuz spacecraft Dec. 10 during a final fit check and inspection. Kopra, Tim Peake of the European Space Agency and Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) will launch Dec. 15 on the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft for a six-month mission on the International Space Station...NASA/Victor Zelentsov.
In the Integration Facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 46-47 crewmember Tim Kopra of NASA flashes a smile before entering his Soyuz spacecraft Dec. 10 during a final fit check and inspection. Kopra, Tim Peake of the European Space Agency and Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) will launch Dec. 15 on the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft for a six-month mission on the International Space Station...NASA/Victor Zelentsov. · Victor Zelentsov, Public domain (NASA)

The European-Chinese Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer was declared ready to begin science operations on September 23. The milestone follows an extensive commissioning phase in orbit since the spacecraft launched on May 19.

Smile reached its dedicated target orbit on June 20. The mission will capture data on how Earth's magnetic shield responds to continuous streams of charged particles emitted by the Sun.

See Earth in the map