Smile unboxing at Europe's Spaceport

Following a two-week journey from the Netherlands, the Maritime Nantaise Colibri cargo ship carrying the Smile spacecraft docked in Kourou, French Guiana on Thursday 26 February.

Smile was then unloaded, transported to Europe's Spaceport, and then unpacked. During the coming weeks, the spacecraft will go through final preparations for its launch on a Vega-C rocket between 8 April and 7 May.

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

[Image description: We are inside a large room in a technical facility, with high ceilings, white walls, and a large doorway bordered in red. A large white box is partially open, with a golden spacecraft being revealed inside. The box opens a bit like a sandwich; the top half being lifted off of the bottom half. An engineer wearing blue overalls and a white helmet is holding a red strap attached to the box, possibly to keep it stable.]