ESA Space Transportation

***Update 6 April 2026: launch postponed due to a technical issue occurred on a subsystem component production line after VV29 launcher integration, new launch date to be confirmed at a later date, more information from Avio***

ESA will be broadcasting live as the European-Chinese Smile mission launches at 07:29 BST/08:29 CEST (03:29 local time) on 9 April 2026.

Smile will launch on a European Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

Times subject to change at short notice.

The European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences are joining hands to uncover how Earth defends itself against dangerous particles and radiation from the Sun.

It’s the first time we will have images and videos of what happens when this solar wind crashes into our magnetic field. Smile will witness this interaction in action, using four onboard instruments to watch the drama unfold.

Life can only exist as we know it when nestled safe inside this giant magnetic bubble surrounding our planet. By imaging the bubble as a whole for the first time, Smile will help us build up the fundamental understanding that space weather forecasting will ultimately depend on.

Learn more about Smile.

The Smile mission is set to launch on a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on Thursday 9 April at 08:29 CEST/07:29 BST/03:29 local time. Follow along as we communicate on the final preparations for launch. Journalists are invited to join online media briefings in English, French, Spanish, Italian and German.

Timelapse showing the steps to build the most powerful version of Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket on the launch pad at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

The video shows the central core of the rocket arriving at the launch pad on 21 January 2026, where it was raised upright and placed on the launch table on the same day.

Then launch technicians added the first booster, second booster, third booster and the final, fourth booster over ending on the 22 January. Next the upper part including the 32 Amazon Leo satellites was added to the top of the rocket on 9 February.

On launch day the mobile hangar that houses Ariane 6 was rolled away to reveal the rocket to the stars, followed by liftoff.

This first launch of the four-booster version of Ariane 6, operated by Arianespace, took 32 satellites for Amazon’s Leo constellation to low-Earth orbit. Liftoff occurred at 13:45 local time (16:45 GMT/17:45 CET) on 12 February, with separation of the last satellites occurring after 114 minutes.

At 16:45 GMT/17:45 CET the first Ariane 6 rocket with four boosters lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on 12 February, taking 32 Amazon Leo satellites to orbit.

This is Ariane 6’s most powerful version yet. The new three-stage European rocket can be adapted according to each mission with either two or four boosters as well as the length of the fairing – the nosecone that splits vertically in two. This launch was the sixth Ariane 6 flight, the first to fly with four boosters and also the first with the long fairing.

Ariane 6 in its four-booster configuration, known as Ariane 64, doubles the rocket’s performance compared to the two-booster version that has flown five times including the inaugural flight in 2024. The P120C boosters used by Ariane 6 are one of the most powerful one-piece motors in production in the world. Flying with four boosters takes Ariane 6 to a whole new class of rockets. With the extra thrust from two more boosters Ariane 6 can take around 21.6 tonnes to low Earth orbit, more than double the 10.3 tonnes it could bring to orbit with just two boosters.

Watch the broadcast for the launch of Ariane 6 Flight VA267, the first mission featuring the four-booster configuration.

On this flight, Ariane 6 delivered 32 satellites for Amazon’s LEO constellation into low Earth orbit.

At 16:45 GMT/17:45 CET the first Ariane 6 rocket with four boosters lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on 12 February, taking 32 Amazon Leo satellites to orbit. 

This is Ariane 6’s most powerful version yet. The new three-stage European rocket can be adapted according to each mission with either two or four boosters as well as the length of the fairing – the nosecone that splits vertically in two. This launch was the sixth Ariane 6 flight, the first to fly with four boosters and also the first with the long fairing. 

Ariane 6 in its four-booster configuration, known as Ariane 64, doubles the rocket’s performance compared to the two-booster version that has flown five times including the inaugural flight in 2024. The P120C boosters used by Ariane 6 are one of the most powerful one-piece motors in production in the world. Flying with four boosters takes Ariane 6 to a whole new class of rockets. With the extra thrust from two more boosters Ariane 6 can take around 21.6 tonnes to low Earth orbit, more than double the 10.3 tonnes it could bring to orbit with just two boosters.