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.

As one of four key instruments onboard the SMILE, the Ultraviolet Aurora Imager (UVI) was co-developed by the National Space Science Center (NSSC) and ESA‌. Following the completion of satellite-level tests—including simulation flights, mechanical environmental testing, and thermal vacuum trials—the UVI lens hood protective cover underwent its first successful deployment test on ‌July 21, 2025‌, at the cleanroom of European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands‌. The cover was released using the hot knife mechanism‌. Personnel from NSSC, the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites of CAS, Airbus, and ESA participated in this critical activity, marking a key milestone prior to satellite transportation‌.

Fig. 1‌ Team conducting of the UVI protective cover deployment test‌.

Fig.2‌ UVI protective cover of pre-deployment status check ‌(left) and successfully deployed (right).

(Contributed by: Key Laboratory of Space Environment Detection‌)