China-Europe SMILE Solar Science Mission: Protecting Earth from Space Weather
For the first time, the SMILE mission will capture images of the Earth’s magnetic boundary in action.
This is expected to help scientists better understand so-called “space weather” and its impact on modern life.
CGTN correspondent Li Jianhua spoke to the principal investigator of the soft X-ray imager—one of the four instruments mounted on the spacecraft to find out more.
The European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) are joining hands to uncover how Earth defends itself against dangerous particles and radiation from the Sun.
It is the first time we will have images and videos of what happens when the solar wind crashes into Earth's magnetic field. SMILE will witness this interaction in action using four onboard instruments.
Life can only exist, as we know it, when nestled safe inside this giant magnetic bubble surrounding our planet. By imaging the bubble as a whole for the first time, SMILE will help us build up our fundamental understandingof space weather forecasting.
The European Space Agency (ESA) is responsible for providing SMILE’s payload module (carrying 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.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences 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 program, principally contributing to answering the question ‘How does the Solar System work?’
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Smile
Duration: 6 minutes, 33 seconds
Release Date: April 24, 2026
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