The European Space Agency (ESA) successfully launched the Smile satellite today, which will conduct a three-year mission from orbit to study in detail the Earth's magnetic field and the interaction of this natural protective envelope with solar storms.
The satellite was successfully launched early this morning using a Vega-C class launch vehicle from the European Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, agencies reported.
The mission and the Smile satellite (SMILE) are primarily the result of ESA's cooperation with China, and the multi-year project involved, among other countries, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland and Germany, as well as scientific institutions and universities from the USA and Canada.
SMILE je akronim za Solar wind-Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Link Explorer.
Scientists hope to use precise instruments to gain a more complete picture of the extent and shape of Earth's magnetosphere and how solar storms and solar particles cause auroras and storms.
The satellite is equipped with four high-precision instruments. These are an X-ray camera that will "see" the otherwise invisible magnetosphere and an ultraviolet camera that will record the auroras.
The magnetometer will record the magnetic field, and the mass spectrometer the energy and direction of movement of solar particles hitting the planet, writes the dpa agency.
The first scientific results will not be available for several months, however.
The rocket is planned to carry the satellite only to an initial orbit at an altitude of about 700 kilometers, and only with the help of additional maneuvers will the satellite reach the target elliptical orbit at an altitude of between 5.000 and 121.000 kilometers.
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