European-Chinese

Ōu Zhōng

欧中

jointly / in collaboration

liánhé

联合

to develop / to design and build

yánzhì

研制

(modifying particle)

de

的

SMILE (satellite mission name)

SMILE

SMILE

satellite

wèixīng

卫星

scheduled for

dìngyú

定于

April 9

sìyuè jiǔ rì

四月九日

to launch

fāshè

发射

to lift off

shēngkōng

升空

。

New Words

News in English

ESA-China Joint SMILE Satellite Scheduled to Launch on April 9

The SMILE satellite, jointly developed by ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is scheduled to launch from French Guiana on April 9. The mission will study how Earth magnetosphere responds to the solar wind using X-ray and ultraviolet cameras.

SMILE is a joint scientific mission developed through years of collaboration between the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The satellite is scheduled to launch on April 9 from the Kourou launch site in French Guiana aboard the Vega-C rocket. The satellite carries an X-ray imager and ultraviolet aurora camera for panoramic observation of Earth's magnetosphere. Its orbital apogee is approximately 121,000 kilometers above the North Pole, while its perigee is around 5,000 kilometers above the South Pole. The mission's core scientific objective is to reveal the interaction mechanisms between solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere and ionosphere. The advantage of SMILE is that a single satellite can achieve panoramic imaging without requiring multiple coordinated satellites. The mission is expected to last three years, with scientific data to be jointly analyzed and used by European and Chinese research teams. According to European Space Agency officials, this collaboration represents an important milestone in European-Chinese scientific partnership.

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