Smile spacecraft (artist impression)
Smile will be ESA's first mission to view the full Sun-Earth connection, filling an essential gap in our understanding of the Solar System.
Specifically, Smile will improve our understanding of space weather and solar storms. The magnetospheric bubble that surrounds Earth is invisible to our eyes, but with its UV and X-ray cameras, Smile will reveal this shield that protects us from the Sun. Its findings will help protect space-based technology and the lives of any humans in orbit around Earth, as well as infrastructure on Earth’s surface.
Smile is a collaboration between ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
[Image description: A bright gold spacecraft with blue solar panels against a dark background of space. An antenna points upwards from the top of the spacecraft.]
