SMILE (spacecraft)
Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) is a planned joint venture mission between the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. SMILE will image for the first time the magnetosphere of the Sun in soft X-rays and UV during up to 40 hours per orbit, improving our understanding of the dynamic interaction between the solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere. The prime science questions of the SMILE mission are
- What are the fundamental modes of the dayside solar wind/magnetosphere interaction?
- What defines the substorm cycle?
- How do coronal mass ejection-driven storms arise and what is their relationship to substorms?
Rendering of the SMILE spacecraft | |
| Mission type | Magnetospheric mission |
|---|---|
| Operator | ESA-CAS |
| Website | cosmos |
| Mission duration | 3 years (nominal) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | Airbus (payload module) |
| Launch mass | 2200 kg |
| Dry mass | 708 kg |
| Power | 850 W |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | May 2025 (planned) |
| Rocket | Vega-C |
| Launch site | Kourou |
| Contractor | Arianespace |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Highly elliptical orbit |
| Perigee altitude | 5,000 km |
| Apogee altitude | 121,182 km |
| Inclination | 70° or 98° |
Official insignia for the SMILE mission | |
As of October 2023, SMILE is expected to launch in May 2025.
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