2024-09-28 22:02:28
Development of a Sino-European satellite designed to study the solar wind has been completed, Radio China reported. The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) project is a joint project between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the European Space Agency, which aims to deepen the understanding of the Sun-Earth connection by observing the dynamic interaction between the solar wind and our planet’s magnetosphere.
Currently, testing of SMILE in China has been completed, including satellite testing, system interface testing, and environmental experiments.
The satellite platform and payload module are expected to be delivered to the European Space Research and Technology Center in the Netherlands in October, where they will be integrated and retested. The payload module was developed by the European Space Agency.
SMILE is scheduled to be launched by the end of 2025 from the Kourou Spaceport in French Guiana on Arianespace’s Vega-C launch vehicle.
The project is China’s first comprehensive and in-depth cooperation with the European Space Agency at the mission level in the field of space exploration.