TBDElliptical OrbitAvio
Vega-C | Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE)
Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE)
LAUNCH TIME
Thursday, April 30, 2026 at 00:00 UTC
MISSION DETAILS
Joint mission between the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences to investigate the interaction between Earth’s protective shield – the magnetosphere – and the supersonic solar wind.
MISSION NAMESolar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE)
TARGET ORBITElliptical Orbit
LAUNCH VEHICLEVega-C
DATA SOURCELL2
LAUNCH WINDOW
NET (NO EARLIER)Thursday, April 30, 2026 at 00:00 UTC
WINDOW OPENThursday, April 30, 2026 at 00:00 UTC
WINDOW CLOSEThursday, April 30, 2026 at 00:00 UTC
LAUNCH PROVIDER
PROVIDERAvio S.p.A
ABBREVIATIONAvio
LAUNCH PAD
PAD NAMEAriane Launch Area 1 (ELV)
LOCATIONGuiana Space Centre, French Guiana
COORDINATES5.2360°N, -52.7750°E
RELATED LAUNCHES
Same launch vehicle: Vega-C
