Overview
- The ESA–CAS SMILE probe, which launched Tuesday on a Vega‑C from Kourou, reached initial orbit and confirmed solar array deployment minutes after separation.
- Mission controllers have begun a weeks‑long transfer to a highly elliptical path that climbs to about 121,000 kilometers over the North Pole and dips to roughly 5,000 kilometers over the South Pole, allowing up to 45 hours of continuous aurora viewing.
- Four instruments ride on SMILE, led by a UK‑built Soft X‑ray Imager that pictures faint X‑rays from solar wind charge exchange, plus a UV aurora camera, a light ion analyzer, and a magnetometer.
- After engine burns and checkout, routine science is expected to start in July during a planned three‑year mission, with first combined X‑ray and UV images due a few months after launch.
- The project is a fully co‑designed and co‑operated ESA–China effort that links European and Chinese ground stations and teams, and its data are expected to sharpen models used to protect satellites, astronauts, navigation, and power grids.