Europe–China’s SMILE mission launches to image Earth’s magnetic shield against the solar wind
TL;DR
SMILE, a joint European-Chinese mission, launched from Kourou to image Earth’s magnetopause with soft X‑ray optics, enabling a three-year study of how the magnetosphere responds to solar wind and space weather while highlighting ongoing EU‑China scientific cooperation.
- A European-Chinese spacecraft just launched to photograph something nobody has ever actually seen — the invisible shield that keeps the solar wind from sterilizing Earth Space Daily
- Smile lifts off on quest to reveal Earth’s invisible shield against the solar wind European Space Agency
- Vega C rocket launches European-Chinese space weather satellite to orbit Space
- Successful launch of SMILE Satellite marks first China-ESA mission-level cooperation Global Times
- 75,000 miles up: China’s SMILE satellite launches to map Earth’s ‘invisible shield’ Yahoo
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