Science begins for Smile

In a 30 September 2026 update, ESA announced that on 23 September the European-Chinese Smile mission was declared ready to begin science operations, tasked with revealing how Earth responds to the wind of charged particles from the Sun. Smile launched on 19 May and reached its target orbit for science operations on 20 June; between then and now, European and Chinese teams completed a busy in-space commissioning period, deploying mechanisms, switching on units, checking all communications between the spacecraft and the ground, and fixing issues that arose. ESA noted that a spacecraft never quite behaves the same in space as it does on the ground.

ESA Director of Science Carole Mundell said the mission is a testament to the trust built between the teams, their dedication to excellence and their determination to find solutions whatever the challenge. Smile is now approved to begin science operations, which ESA called a very important milestone. A major part of commissioning involved testing Smile's four science instruments: the soft X-ray imager (SXI), ultraviolet aurora imager (UVI), magnetometer (MAG) and light ion analyser (LIA). Together they will collect data to better understand solar storms, geomagnetic storms and space weather, including how solar activity interacts with Earth's magnetic field, leads to auroras, and can affect electronic infrastructure on and around Earth.

The UVI produced the first footage released from the mission and became the first camera since 2008 to capture the full ring of northern lights around the North Pole in ultraviolet light. It is now recording the auroras for a record-breaking 45 hours at a time. The footage was taken on 24 July 2026, just two weeks after UVI was switched on, and shows activity in the ring of northern lights caused by a disturbance in Earth's magnetic field from a rush of solar wind particles; it captures an auroral substorm.

Smile's X-ray camera, SXI, was also successfully switched on and has taken its first images. SXI is a key European contribution to the mission, and its first two images — both showing the aftermath of a distant exploded star — were taken to check that the camera works as expected. Although the camera itself is working very well, when pointed toward Earth it currently detects too much unwanted stray light. Specific settings and software updates are being changed and implemented onboard to reduce this as much as possible, with ESA, the consortium of universities and companies involved in the instrument, and the Chinese team leading spacecraft operations working together on the issue.