A Vega-C rocket carrying the SMILE satellite blasts into the sky in Kourou, French Guiana, on Tuesday. XINHUA . The ...

A production-line fault on Europe’s Vega-C rocket has pushed the launch of the SMILE space-weather observatory from April 9 to no earlier than May 19, 2026, adding fresh uncertainty to a mission that ...

Sometime around 5:52 a.m. Central European time on May 19, 2026, a Vega-C rocket is scheduled to climb out of Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana carrying a spacecraft that has never had a true ...

Late Monday evening, the European Space Agency’s Vega-C rocket lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, carrying a spacecraft that promises to significantly enhance our understanding of space weather.

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) are targeting tonight, Monday, May 18, at 11:52 p.m. EST for the launch of the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link ...

A May 19, 2026, photo shows the Vega-C rocket lift off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana carrying the Smile spacecraft into orbit. The European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences ...

Before Smile can begin studying how Earth responds to the streams of particles and bursts of radiation from the sun, the spacecraft had to complete an extraordinary journey here on Earth. Follow the ...

European Space Agency (ESA) Vega-C rocket during its launch at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, on the French overseas department of Guiana, on December 1, 2025. Ronan LIETAR/AFP via Getty Images At ...