Smile gets packed up

In September 2025, engineers had deemed the Smile spacecraft ready for the harsh space environment and the instruments ready to collect scientific data. They carefully packed the spacecraft up ready for a couple of months in storage at ESA’s technical heart, ESTEC.

Whilst in the packing container, engineers regularly flush the instruments with dry nitrogen to keep them clean, dry and in tiptop condition.

Read more about the final stages of the Smile test campaign

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: Top-down view of a spacecraft inside a cleanroom. Several large spherical tanks wrapped in shiny silver foil are secured within a circular frame with red supports. The base is covered in gold foil, and cables run across the structure. The spacecraft seems to be sitting inside a large metal box, which is open at the top. A person wearing a hairnet and gloves is working near the bottom edge.]