EU-China spacecraft takes off on mission to probe solar winds

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KOUROU: A pioneering joint space mission between Europe and China successfully launched on Tuesday to investigate the volatile space weather generated by solar winds. The van-sized Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) spacecraft blasted off aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

The three-year collaborative project between the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences aims to map how charged solar particles interact with Earth's magnetic shield. Hurtling at two million kilometers per hour, severe solar storms can severely damage global communication satellites, disrupt electrical grids, and endanger astronauts.

SMILE will utilize a highly elliptical orbit over the North Pole to capture the first-ever panoramic X-ray images of the planet's magnetic armor. The crucial data collected will dramatically enhance global tracking and prediction models for destructive space weather events.