Launch index
Launch Successful

Vega-C | Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE)

May 19, 2026 at 3:52 AM UTC

Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

Vega-C | Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) launch image
Mission imagery · Vega-C

Launch details

LAUNCH IN

T−00d00h00m00s

May 19, 2026 at 3:52 AM UTC

Status: Launch Successful · Live feed refreshes every 30 seconds

Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV)

Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana · 5.2360, -52.7750

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Rocket
Vega-C
Launch site
Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV)

Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

Launch probability
Not published
Window opens
May 19, 2026 at 3:52 AM UTC
Window closes
May 19, 2026 at 3:52 AM UTC
Feed updated
May 20, 2026 at 10:47 AM UTC

Mission description

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.

Vehicle

Vega-C

Vega

Height

34.8 m

Diameter

3 m

LEO capacity

3,300 kg

Successful launches

6

Launch complex

Ariane Launch Area 1 (ELV)

Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

The Guiana Space Centre is a European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, a region of France in South America. Kourou is located at a latitude of 5°. In operation since 1968, it is a suitable location for a spaceport because of its equatorial location and open sea to the east.

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Official links

Mission updates

Launch success with spacecraft acquisition & solar panels deployment.

May 19, 2026 at 4:52 AM UTC · Cosmic_Penguin

Spacecraft separation.

May 19, 2026 at 4:49 AM UTC · Cosmic_Penguin

Liftoff.

May 19, 2026 at 3:52 AM UTC · Cosmic_Penguin

Tweaked T-0.

May 19, 2026 at 3:33 AM UTC · Cosmic_Penguin

Official Webcast by European Space Agency, ESA has started

May 19, 2026 at 3:29 AM UTC · LL2