| Scheduled for (UTC) | 2026-05-19 03:52 |
|---|---|
| Scheduled for (local) | 2026-05-19 00:52 (GFT) |
| Launch site | ELV, Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana, France |
| Launch vehicle | Vega C |
| Launch provider | Avio |
| Payload | SMILE |
| Mass | 2200 kg |
| Customer | ESA / CAS |
| Target orbit | Highly Elliptical Orbit |
Vega C consists of three solid stages and one hypergolic stage:
Livestreams
| Stream | Link |
|---|---|
| ESA | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q8aKbcKCOs |
| Avio (English) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgT3ubiqSe0 |
| Avio (Français) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL8tN7ImVpI |
| Avio (Italiana) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV_A7ix3BAY |
| Space Affairs | https://www.youtube.com/user/SEL9000/streams |
| The Launch Pad | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reQErjTxwvY |
| International Rocket Launches | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuvAEQcVLwg |
Stats
☑️ 1st Vega C mission of 2026, 7th mission overall
☑️ 1st Vega mission of 2026, 29th mission overall
Payload info
Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) is a planned joint venture mission between the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. SMILE will image for the first time the magnetosphere in soft X-rays and UV during up to 40 hours per orbit, improving our understanding of the dynamic interaction between the solar wind and Earth’s magnetosphere.
The mission will observe the solar wind interaction with the magnetosphere with its X-ray and ultraviolet cameras (SXI and UVI), gathering simultaneous images and videos of the dayside magnetopause (where Earth’s magnetosphere meets the solar wind), the polar cusps (a region in each hemisphere where particles from the solar wind have direct access to Earth’s ionosphere), and the auroral oval (the region around each geomagnetic pole where auroras most often occur). SMILE will also gather in situ measurements with its two other instruments, making up its payload – an ion analyser (LIA) and a magnetometer (MAG). These instruments will monitor the ions in the solar wind, magnetosheath, and magnetosphere while detecting changes in the local DC magnetic field.
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Décollage! :)
Acquisition of signal, and solar panel deployment confirmed!
Zefiro 40 burnout and separation, Zefiro 9 (stage 3) ignition, and fairing jettison confirmed.
Stage 1 (P120C) burnout and separation, Stage 2 (Zefiro 40) ignition.
ESA launch webcast is live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q8aKbcKCOs
AVUM+ ignition 2 confirmed.
SMILE separation confirmed!
I still get nervous about Vega launches after the failures in (checks notes) 2020 and 22, plus the fairly low launch rate, so I’m glad to see that this one went off without a hitch.
AVUM+ shutdown 2 confirmed.
Edit: Nominal orbit confirmed.
Zefiro 9 burnout confirmed. 13-minute coast phase before ignition of the AVUM upper stage.
AVUM+ ignition 1 confirmed.
very nice post, the formatting is top notch, first time i see tables in lemmy post, the coverage in the comments is a nice touch, thanks for your hard work!:)
AVUM+ shutdown 1 confirmed.
Edit: Nominal parking orbit confirmed.
