Smile spacecraft is complete for the first time

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.]