Europe-China SMILE Solar Science Mission Arrives at South American Launch Pad

Europe-China SMILE Solar Science Mission Arrives at South American Launch Pad

A photo showing a lorry driving along a narrow road with a large rocket nose cone standing upright on its trailer. Ahead of the lorry (to the left in this image) is a tall rectangular cream-colored building with European Space Agency and Vega logos on its side. The building is surrounded by metal pylons.

A photo showing the nose cone of a rocket hanging from a crane in front of an open technical building. Inside the building stands the rest of the rocket, with a platform at the top where people stand, waiting for the nose cone to arrive.

A photo showing a rocket launch pad at night. At the center of the image is a tall rectangular cream-colored building with a thin white rocket inside. Platforms at various heights give people access to parts of the rocket. The building is surrounded by metal pylons.

The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) is a joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). SMILE is due to launch on May 19, 2026. Preparations are taking place on the launch pad with the rocket’s four stages already assembled inside the mobile building on the left of this image. About four hours before launch, the building will roll away to reveal the complete rocket inside.

The fairing (a nose cone that splits into two parts after launch) sits on top of the rocket’s fourth stage. The fairing will protect Smile during its ascent to space through Earth’s atmosphere. Almost five minutes after liftoff, the fairing will open, revealing Smile inside. At that point, Smile will still be attached to the third and fourth stages of the Vega-C.

Find out more about the Vega launch site at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, a European spaceport: 
https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Space_Transportation/Vega/Vega_launch_site

Kourou is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in South America. 

The Vega-C program is led by ESA, working with Avio as prime contractor and design authority. It ensures that Europe has versatile and independent access to space.

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.

Image Credit: ESA-M. Pédoussaut

Release Date: May 8, 2026

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Stars #Sun #Earth #SpaceWeather #MagneticField #Magnetosphere #Europe #China #中国 #CAS #中国科学院 #SMILEMission #Heliophysics #Physics #VegaCRocket #GuianaSpaceCentre #KourouSpaceport #FrenchGuiana #ArianeGroup #STEM #Education