SMILE: When China and Europe meet beyond Earth
10 April 2026

SMILE: When China and Europe meet beyond Earth

Chat Lounge

About
SMILE, a joint China–Europe satellite, is about to capture something we've never seen before: Earth's magnetic shield in action. What is it trying to do? Why does it matter, and how could it affect your phone, your flight, or even the power grid? And in a divided world, what does this rare space partnership really reveal?
Host Tu Yun joins Professor Quentin Parker, the Director of the Lab for Space Research, University of Hong Kong, Dr. Zhang Fan, an Associate Professor of Astronomy, Beijing Normal University, and Professor Andy Mok of Beijing Foreign Studies University, who's also a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for China and Globalization to break down the science, the stakes, and the geopolitics behind the SMILE mission.