| The SMILE mission: first results
ST2
The SMILE mission: first results
Convener: C.-Philippe Escoubet | Co-convener: Colin Forsyth

The joint European Space Agency/Chinese Academy of Sciences (ESA/CAS) Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) mission was successfully launched from Kourou, French Guiana, on 19 May 2026. SMILE is a novel mission, directly imaging the Sun-Earth interaction. In particular, SMILE images the magnetosheath/magnetopause and cusp regions using a novel soft X-ray instrument, complemented by a UV instrument that is imaging the Northern auroral oval for more than 40 hours continuously. In addition, the solar wind and magnetospheric plasma in the vicinity of the spacecraft is simultaneously measured by a magnetometer and an ion instrument. After reaching its science orbit of 1.7 x 19 RE (geocentric distance) inclined at 70 deg and completing commissioning activities, the nominal mission began in September 2026.  In this session, the first results from the mission will be presented along with information for the community on how to access the SMILE data systems. We encourage presentations on complementary measurements from other missions and ground-based facilities and modelling results in support of the SMILE mission goals.