Vega C set to launch SMILE to study Earths magnetosphere

Date:
Mon, 18 May 2026 22:50:38 +0000

Description:
The European Space Agencys (ESA) latest science mission, Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE), The post Vega C set to launch SMILE to study Earths magnetosphere appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .

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The European Space Agencys (ESA) latest science mission, Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE), is set to launch on a four-stage Vega C rocket from French Guiana. SMILE, a collaboration between ESA, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and multiple academic and commercial organizations, will capture the first global soft X-ray images of Earths magnetosphere and its response to powerful solar wind.

Vega C is scheduled to launch on a northward trajectory to a highly inclined 73-degree orbit from the Ensemble de Lancement Vega (ELV) at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, at 03:52 UTC on Tuesday, May 19. Vega Cs manufacturer, Avio, delayed the launch from April 9 due to a technical
problem on the component production line after integrating the VV29 vehicle with its payload.



This will be Vega Cs first launch with Avio as the provider, replacing Arianespace, which previously operated the vehicle. Airbus in Madrid
developed the payload module, while CAS delivered the spacecrafts power, attitude control, and propulsion module.

The rockets first stage, a single P120C solid-fuel motor, has a maximum
thrust of 4,323 kN. The single-piece solid-fuel rocket motor is the largest and most powerful ever developed, a title previously held by the P80FW motor used on the original Vega vehicle. Arianespaces Ariane 6 vehicle also uses
the P120C as strap-on boosters in either a two-booster or four-booster configuration.



The second and third stages of Vega C utilize the Avio-developed Zefiro 40
and Zefiro 9 solid rocket motors, respectively. Both motors use powder aluminum, ammonium perchlorate, and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene as propellants.

The Attitude Vernier Upper Module (AVUM) serves as the rockets fourth stage and is the only liquid-propellant stage. Developed by Avio, the upper stage
is capable of multiple restarts and is designed to place payloads into
precise orbits and to perform roll and attitude control. Powered by an RD-843 rocket engine, the stage uses unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine fuel and dinitrogen tetroxide oxidizer as its propellants.

Vega C will carry the SMILE to a circular low-Earth orbit at 700 km altitude, after which the spacecrafts propulsion module will bring it to its science orbit using eleven engine burns. The SMILE spacecraft has one 490 N engine
and carries 1580 kg of propellant. SMILE has two deployable solar arrays and 12 thrusters for attitude control.

Earths only defense against powerful space weather is its magnetosphere, an invisible region of space dominated by Earths magnetic field lines. The Sun constantly emits immense amounts of radiation, and often this radiation becomes solar wind that interacts with Earths magnetosphere. SMILE, encapsulated in Vega C fairings, travels to the launch site for payload integration. (Credit: ESA)

SMILE, a 2,300 kg spacecraft, will focus on how Earth responds to the solar wind through the use of four scientific instruments. The spacecraft aims to answer three fundamental questions. First, what happens where the solar wind meets Earths magnetic shield? Second, what causes magnetic glitches on the dark side of Earth? And lastly, how can we predict the most dangerous
magnetic storms earlier?

SMILE will be the first vehicle to make detailed, long-duration X-ray observations of Earths magnetic field and to image the northern lights produced by charged particles interacting with Earths magnetosphere for 45 hours at a time. To observe Earths magnetosphere for 45 hours per orbit, a highly elliptical orbit is required. SMILE will reach 121,000 km above the North Pole at apogee, a third of the distance to the Moon. When the vehicle
is at its 5,000 km perigee above the South Pole, it will transmit its science data to the OHiggins Antarctic ground station.

The largest instrument on the spacecraft is the Soft X-ray Imager (SXI), developed by the University of Leicester in collaboration with the U.K. Space Agency (UKSA) and ESA. SXI will detect X-rays produced when heavy ions in the solar wind collide with neutral particles in Earths exosphere, a process
known as solar wind charge exchange (SWCX). The results will yield the first global X-ray images of Earths magnetosphere. The wide-field lobster-eye telescope utilizes micropore optics (MPO) to spectrally map the location, shape, and motion of Earths magnetospheric bow shock, polar cusps, and magnetopause, which are constantly changing due to interaction with the solar wind. Technicians working on the SXI instrument for SMILE before its integration. (Credit: Space Park Leicester)

Global models for the solar winds interaction with the magnetosphere tell us where the emissions should occur, Dr. Steven Sembay, principal investigator
of SXI, explained to NSF during an interview. Since the solar wind cannot enter the magnetosphere, we expect the magnetopause to appear as a sharp boundary between strong emissions outside the magnetopause and weak emissions inside.

See Also SMILE Updates ESA Forum NSF Shop Click here to Join L2

We are excited to learn just how strong the emissions will be, when and how rapidly the magnetopause will move in response to changes in solar wind pressure and/or the strength and direction of the interplanetary magnetic field. We are equally excited to work with the other instrument teams on
SMILE to construct a global view of the dynamic magnetosphere and improve our understanding of space weather in our immediate environment.

The telescope is equipped with the two largest X-ray-sensitive charge-coupled devices (CCDs) ever flown to space. These CCDs require temperatures of -120 degrees Celsius to minimize noise and are equipped with a radiation-shutter door that protects them during their passage through the Van Allen radiation belts.

Due to resource constraints on available power, we had to design a passive cooling system and a structural design [for the CCDs] that thermally isolates the detector plane from the heat flow from the rest of the spacecraft, Dr. Sembay explained. Because of the relatively large aperture of the telescope and due to the micropore optic array necessary to achieve the wide field of view, it is not possible to passively shield the detectors against radiation damage to the same extent as contemporary X-ray telescopes used in astrophysics, which have much narrower fields of view.



Mitigation against radiation damage comes in the form of having a mechanical shutter which protects the CCDs when the spacecraft passes through the Earths radiation belts and within the design of the CCDs themselves.

Another key instrument on SMILE is the Ultraviolet Imager (UVI), developed by Chinas National Space Science Center with contributions from ESA. Using its ultraviolet camera, UVI will capture the glowing auroral oval that encircles Earths northern magnetic pole. During geomagnetic storms triggered when coronal mass ejections from the Sun reach Earth UVI will continuously observe the northern lights. Previous spacecraft could view the aurora for no more than around 15 hours at a time. This extended coverage will give scientists a much clearer picture of how geomagnetic storms drive and shape the auroral displays.

Complementing the remote-sensing instruments is the in-situ Light Ion
Analyzer (LIA), developed by CAS. The LIA will determine the properties and behavior of solar wind, magnetosheath, and magnetospheric ions in the
vicinity of the SMILE spacecraft. The instrument is a twin-head electrostatic analyzer attached to the SMILE spacecraft.

The final instrument in SMILEs science suite is the Magnetometer (MAG), developed jointly by the Chinese National Space Science Center and the Space Research Institute of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Two tri-axial
fluxgate sensors mounted on a three-meter deployable boom will measure the strength and direction of solar wind and will detect shocks and discontinuities. By operating as a gradiometer with sensors spaced 80 cm apart, MAG can accurately subtract the spacecrafts magnetic field, delivering in-situ data that complements the remote-sensing instruments on board.
Diagram of SMILE and its scientific instruments. (Credit: ESA)

SMILE is an example of global scientific cooperation, marking the first time ESA and China have jointly selected, designed, and implemented a space
science mission from initial proposal through launch operations. Data downlinked from the OHiggins Antarctic ground station will be processed and shared globally through open science networks.

The SXI hardware and flight software were developed by three UK institutions and institutions from Austria, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, and additional direct contributions from the European Space Agency. This was managed by the University of Leicester as the Principal Investigator Institution, with the support of the United Kingdom Space Agency, using industry-standard project management and system engineering approaches and leveraging our extensive heritage in space flight projects, explained Dr. Sembay.

Space weather not only influences our power grids and satellites but also poses risks to astronauts aboard the International Space Station and on
future missions to the Moon and Mars. SMILE will help develop a more comprehensive understanding of the solar winds impact on Earths magnetosphere and how it protects us. A deeper understanding of hazardous space weather can improve our ability to predict when and where these intense storms will occur and assess potential damage to Earth-based infrastructure. SMILE is expected to operate for three years and will provide scientists with their most accurate and detailed magnetospheric data to date.

We are often surprised by what we see when we explore the universe; that uncertainty is, after all, why we build these instruments, Dr. Sembay said.

(Lead image: Vega C and SMILE ahead of launch. Credit: ESA)



The post Vega C set to launch SMILE to study Earths magnetosphere appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com .



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Link to news story:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2026/05/esa-smile-launch/


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