The instruments
Smile will make clear and near-continuous observations of key regions in near-Earth space with four instruments: a soft X-ray imager (SXI), an ultraviolet aurora imager (UVI), a light ion analyser (LIA), and a magnetometer (MAG).
UVI, SXI and MAG will be mounted on Smile’s payload module, with the two MAG sensors mounted 80 cm apart along a deployable 3-m-long boom. The two LIA sensors will be mounted on the spacecraft platform.
SXI and UVI are remote sensing instruments (they take images from a distance) whilst LIA and MAG are in-situ instruments (they make measurements of particles and magnetic fields in the vicinity of the spacecraft). Together the four will work together to explore the properties of the solar wind and investigate how it affects Earth’s magnetosphere and therefore the planet as a whole.
The pair of in-situ instruments (LIA and MAG) was built using knowledge and experience gleaned from past missions including ESA's Cluster and ESA-CNSA Double Star.
Find out more about Smile’s instruments here.