The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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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.
Smile will be the first mission to view the full interaction between the Sun and Earth on a global scale, filling a stark gap in our understanding of the Solar System. Once in space, it will watch how Earth responds to the solar wind, to improve our understanding of space weather and solar storms. To make sure that the mission is a success, our teams are working tirelessly behind the scenes.
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: A spacecraft in a cleanroom. Because of the lack of insulation, we see all the different internal parts of the spacecraft.]