Smile liftoff seen through trees
Vega-C liftoff from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana at 00:52 local time (04:52 BST/05:52 CEST) on 19 May 2026. Vega-C carried the Smile mission to space on flight VV29.
Find out more about Smile’s journey from launch to orbit.
Smile (the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) is a joint mission between the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The Vega-C programme is led by ESA, working with Avio as prime contractor and design authority. It ensures that Europe has versatile and independent access to space.
[Image description: A night-time photo showing a rocket taking off from a launchpad. Silhouettes of trees are visible in the foreground. Whilst the image is mostly dark, the region below the bottom of the rocket glows orange.]
