30/04/2024 (Agence Europe) – On Tuesday 30 April, the European Space Agency (ESA) signed an agreement for the launch of its solar wind mission, Smile, on a Vega-C rocket. The launch is currently scheduled for late 2025. Vega-C will place Smile in a low-Earth orbit, from which the spacecraft will propel itself into a high-Earth orbit. In this final egg-shaped orbit, Smile will fly around the Earth roughly every two days. Smile, standing for ‘Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer’, is a collaboration between ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), with the aim of improving the understanding of the interaction between the Sun and the Earth. This is the first time that ESA and China have jointly selected, designed, implemented, launched and operated a scientific space mission. (CG)