China-Europe’Smile’ Satellite Launches to Study Earth’s Magnetic Shield

The joint China-European SMILE satellite (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) was successfully launched on May 19 from French Guiana aboard a Vega-C rocket. Designed to capture the first panoramic images of solar wind interacting with Earth’s magnetosphere, the mission will help scientists better understand space weather, which can affect satellites, navigation and power grids. Equipped with the world’s first space-borne soft X-ray imager, SMILE represents a landmark in China-EU space cooperation and will make its scientific data openly available to researchers worldwide.（Photo/Research Team）

By Zhang Miao,Wang Yu,Wang Ziyuan,Zhang Lingxi(intern)/China Youth Daily