Smile's special orbit

Smile will reveal how Earth's magnetic field reacts to the relentless streams of particles and bursts of energy that the Sun constantly throws in our direction. It will give humankind its first complete look at how the solar wind leads to geomagnetic storms and auroras.

Smile will have a very elongated orbit around Earth, taking it 121 000 km above the north pole every two days and then close to the south pole to send its data down to DLR’s German Antarctic Station GARS O’Higgins. This type of orbit enables Smile to spend much of its time (about 80%, equivalent to nine months of the year) at high altitude above the northern hemisphere, allowing the spacecraft to collect continuous observations of the northern lights for longer periods of time.

Smile (the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) is a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

[Image description: GIF showing the Smile spacecraft orbiting around Earth. The orbit takes it far above the north pole and very close to the south pole to send down its data to a ground station in Antarctica.]