Smile

The mission

Smile will use four science instruments to study how Earth responds to the solar wind from the Sun. This will improve our understanding of solar storms, geomagnetic storms and the science of space weather.

The launch

Launch date: 9 April 2026, 08:29 CEST
Launch location: Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana
Launch vehicle: Vega-C
Destination: highly elliptical orbit around Earth

4 instruments
121 000 km above North Pole
3 year lifetime
>250 scientists