Latest News

  • SMILE Mission Passes China-Europe Joint Qualification and Flight Acceptance Review, Advances to Launch Phase

    The Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) mission successfully passed its China-Europe Joint Qualification and Flight Acceptance Review (QFAR) on October 28, 2025, in Noordwijk, Netherlands. The milestone confirms the satellite has completed Assembly, Integration, and environmental Testing (AIT), meeting all mission requirements and readiness for launch.

    20-11-2025

  • SMILE Mission Successfully Completes China-Europe Large-Scale System Joint Validation Test‌

    From August 4th to 8th, 2025, the SMILE mission successfully conducted the China-Europe System Operation Validation Test (SOVT). The test focused on verifying the network connectivity, data exchange, and coordinated operations capabilities between the Joint Scientific Application System, the European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), the Ground Support System, the Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TT&C) system, the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC), the satellite platform, and the payload module. Through a week-long continuous test campaign, the team successfully completed:

    09-08-2025

  • SMILE MAG Boom Deployment Test Successfully Completed

    The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) is a major space exploration mission jointly carried out by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the European Space Agency (ESA). Scheduled for launch in early 2026, the satellite aims to take advantage of the critical window of the peak of the solar activity cycle to accurately capture the entire process of the dynamic interaction between the solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere, providing valuable observational data for space physics research.

    29-07-2025

  • Protective Cover Deployment Test for SMILE Ultraviolet Aurora Imager

    The Solar wind-Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE), a joint mission between the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the European Space Agency (ESA), is scheduled for launch in early 2026 to capture dynamic interactions between the solar wind and Earth’s magnetosphere during the peak of the current solar cycle.

    25-07-2025

  • China-Europe SMILE Mission Completes Critical Testing Phase in Netherlands

    The Solar wind-Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE), representing the most ambitious China-Europe collaboration in space science to date, has successfully passed all environmental tests at ESA's European Space Technology Centre (ESTEC).

    09-07-2025

  • The SMILE SWT#23 and Consortium #17 meeting Held

    On 20-24 May 2022, the SMILE (Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) Mission 23rd Scientific Working Team (SWT) and 17th Joint Meeting was successfully held in Shenzhen.

    24-05-2024