Smile spacecraft before two become one

On 21 January 2025, engineers at ESA’s technical heart (ESTEC) connected the two main parts of the Smile spacecraft, putting it into its final flight configuration.

In the foreground of this image, we see the spacecraft platform, which contains one of the four science instruments, as well as everything else that the spacecraft needs to function, for example the propulsion and service modules responsible for powering, steering and controlling the spacecraft. The platform is covered in a red silky cloth to protect it from falling screws and other objects that could be dropped when the payload module is lowered on top of the platform.

In the background, to the right of the platform, we see the payload module, ready to be lifted and placed on the platform. The whole integration process is a very delicate procedure, with about twenty people from ESA, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Airbus surrounding the spacecraft, fully focused on the task in hand (not all people visible in this photo). They wear white cleanroom suits, hair and beard nets and shoe coverings to protect the spacecraft from dirt.

Find out more about the testing and integration of Smile at ESTEC

Smile (the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) is a 50–50 collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

[Image description: Two men wearing harnesses on an aerial platform in a cleanroom. Behind them is a spacecraft covered in a red cloth. The men are looking in the direction of the spacecraft.]