SMILE Mission Launch Marks Major Milestone for Leicester Space Science

Teams at the University of Leicester and Space Park Leicester are celebrating the successful launch of the European Space Agency’s SMILE mission, carrying the Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) instrument developed in Leicester. The mission will provide groundbreaking new insights into how the solar wind interacts with Earth’s magnetic field, helping scientists better understand space weather and its impact on satellites, communications and critical infrastructure.

The SXI instrument is built on the University of Leicester’s world-leading ultra-lightweight X-ray optics technology, developed over more than three decades and previously used on major international missions including BepiColombo, SVOM and Einstein Probe. The launch also marks an important milestone for Space Park Leicester, with SXI becoming the first instrument delivered to a major ESA mission from the facility.