Published on
19/05/2026 - 16:42 GMT+2
A European-Chinese mission that will X-ray the Earth’s magnetic atmosphere is officially in space.
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) mission sent a 3-metre-tall spacecraft equipped with trackers and antennas into orbit on Tuesday from its launch site in French Guiana.
The joint mission, launched with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), will track the Earth’s magnetosphere, which protects the planet from gentle streams of charged particles, called the solar wind, that come from the Sun.
