SMILE Satellite Launches With World’s First X-Ray Eye On Earth’s Magnetic Shield
At 05:52 CEST on May 19, 2026, a Vega-C rocket lifted off from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, carrying the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer — SMILE — into a parking orbit 707 kilometers above Earth. By 06:49 CEST, ESA…