Smile sees the light
In June 2025, Smile was put into the Large Space Simulator – Europe’s largest vacuum chamber. This massive machine recreates the strange vacuum and tough temperatures of outer space. It even includes a Sun simulation to imitate how a spacecraft will feel super-hot on its Sun-facing side, and super-cold on its shaded side.
It was the final, and possibly most complicated, part of Smile’s spacecraft environment testing phase. It put the mission through its paces to make sure that it was ready for the difficult conditions in space. Smile passed all its tests with flying colours.
Smile (the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) is a joint mission between the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Smile is due to launch on a European Vega-C rocket in 2026. Follow the latest mission news via esa.int/smile.
[Image description: A spacecraft inside a cleanroom. The main body of the spacecraft is covered in gold-coloured thermal insulation material. The spacecraft is hanging from red cables over a black opening. A group of four engineers peer up towards the spacecraft from a gap in the bottom of the black opening.]
