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\t\t\t\t\t\t20\/03\/2026<\/span> The Smile mission is set to launch on a Vega-C rocket from Europe\u2019s Spaceport in French Guiana on Thursday 9 April at 08:29 CEST\/07:29 BST\/03:29 local time<\/b>. Follow along as we communicate on the final preparations for launch. Journalists are invited to join online media briefings in English, French, Spanish, Italian and German.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Smile is a\u202fcollaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). It will reveal how Earth responds to the streams of particles and bursts of radiation from the Sun, using an X-ray camera to make the first X-ray observations of Earth\u2019s magnetic field, and an ultraviolet camera to watch the northern lights non-stop for 45 hours at a time.<\/p>\n During the launch, the four stages of the Vega-C rocket will separate one by one, before finally releasing Smile after 57 minutes. Smile\u2019s solar panels will unfold after 63 minutes \u2013 the milestone that confirms launch success.<\/p>\n The launch will drop Smile off into a low-Earth orbit. From there, the spacecraft will take over to bring itself to its\u00a0final,\u00a0egg-shaped orbit\u00a0that goes\u00a0121 000 km above the North Pole\u00a0to collect data, before coming 5000 km above the South Pole to deliver it to waiting ground stations.<\/p>\n Launch preparations are progressing well, with the spacecraft and all rocket parts having now arrived at Europe\u2019s Spaceport. The four rocket stages are stacked, ready and waiting for Smile on the launch pad.<\/p>\n For the latest updates,\u00a0visit our\u00a0dedicated page and follow @science.esa.int and @transport.esa.int (Bluesky) and @esascience and @ESA_transport (X).<\/p>\n Our Smile launch kit\u00a0is a set of infographics providing an overview of the mission, its science goals and the launch timeline. It is available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch.<\/p>\n Our mission minisite gives an overview of all-things-Smile.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Media are invited to join online media briefings in several languages ahead of the launch.<\/p>\n Interested journalists should register\u202fby 17:00 CET on\u00a0Monday 23\u00a0March<\/b>\u00a0by choosing the\u00a0appropriate form\u00a0here.\u202fOnly registered media will be able to attend and ask questions.<\/p>\n The briefing in English will be livestreamed via ESA Web TV on Thursday 26 March at 14:00 CET for anybody to watch.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Wednesday\u00a025\u00a0March<\/b><\/p>\n 10:30: Briefing in\u00a0Italian<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n Participants:<\/i><\/p>\n Stefano Bianchi, Head of Flight Programmes, ESA<\/p>\n Massimo Falcolini,\u00a0Smile Product Assurance Manager, ESA<\/p>\n Domenico Trotta,\u00a0Internal\u00a0Research\u00a0Fellow, ESA<\/p>\n 13:30: Briefing in\u00a0German<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Participants:<\/i><\/p>\n Walfried Raab, Smile Lead Payload Engineer, ESA<\/p>\n Marcus Kirsch, Smile Ground Segment and Operations Support Manager, ESA<\/p>\n Manfred Steller,\u00a0Senior engineer for Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Science<\/p>\n 14:30: Briefing in\u00a0French<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Participants:<\/i><\/p>\n Toni Tolker-Nielsen, Director of Space Transportation, ESA<\/p>\n Philippe Escoubet, Smile Project Scientist, ESA<\/p>\n Sylvain Vey,\u00a0Smile Instrument and Operations Engineer, ESA<\/p>\n Dimitra\u00a0Koutroumpa,\u00a0Charg\u00e9e\u00a0de Recherche CNRS, LATMOS<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Thursday 26\u00a0March<\/b><\/p>\n 13:00-14:00: Briefing in\u00a0Spanish<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Participants:<\/i><\/p>\n Roc\u00edo Guerra,\u00a0Smile Science Operations Development Manager, ESA<\/p>\n Ignasi Pardos,\u00a0Vega Launch\u00a0System\u00a0and\u00a0Engineering\u00a0Manager, ESA<\/p>\n Jaione Martinez\u00a0Cengotitabengoa,\u00a0PAZ-2 Programme Manager, Airbus Defence and Space<\/p>\n Jenny Carter,\u00a0Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellow, Leicester University<\/p>\n Raquel Gonz\u00e1lez Sola (General Director of Airbus Spain)<\/p>\n 14:00: Briefing in English (also livestreamed via ESA Web TV)<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Participants:<\/i><\/p>\n Carole Mundell, Director of\u00a0Science, ESA<\/p>\n David Agnolon,\u00a0Smile Project Manager, ESA<\/p>\n Ignasi Pardos,\u00a0Vega Launch\u00a0System\u00a0and\u00a0Engineering\u00a0Manager, ESA<\/p>\n Colin Forsyth,\u00a0Associate Professor in the Space Plasma Physics Group at the UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory<\/p>\n Jing Li, Smile Project Manager, CAS<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n About Smile<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Smile<\/i>\u00a0(the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) is a joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).<\/i><\/p>\n Smile will use four science instruments to study how Earth responds to the solar wind from the Sun. In doing so, Smile will improve our understanding of solar storms, geomagnetic\u00a0storms\u00a0and the science of space weather.<\/i><\/p>\n ESA\u00a0is\u00a0responsible for\u00a0providing Smile\u2019s payload module (which carries three of the four science instruments), one of the spacecraft\u2019s 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.<\/i><\/p>\n CAS\u00a0provides the other\u00a0three science instruments and the spacecraft\u00a0platform, and\u00a0is responsible for\u00a0operating\u00a0the spacecraft in orbit.<\/i><\/p>\n Smile is part of ESA’s\u00a0<\/i>Cosmic Vision<\/i>\u00a0programme, principally contributing to answering the question \u2018How does the Solar System work?\u2019<\/i><\/p>\n For more information, visit:\u00a0<\/i>https:\/\/www.esa.int\/Science_Exploration\/Smile<\/i><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n About Vega-C<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Europe\u2019s\u00a0<\/i>Vega-C<\/i>\u00a0rocket can launch 2300 kg into space, such as small scientific and Earth observation spacecraft. At 35 m tall, Vega-C weighs 210 tonnes on the launch pad and reaches orbit with three solid-propellant-powered stages before the fourth liquid-propellant stage takes over for precise placement of satellites into their desired orbit around Earth.<\/i><\/p>\n Complementing the Ariane family to launch all types of payloads into their desired orbits, Vega-C ensures that Europe has versatile and independent access to space. ESA leads the Vega-C programme, working with\u00a0<\/i>Avio<\/i>\u00a0as prime contractor and design authority. For this launch Avio is also launch service operator.<\/i><\/p>\n For more information, visit:\u00a0<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t5<\/span> likes<\/small><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\nOnline media briefings in five languages<\/h2>\n