Taking part in the Sino-European SMILE satellite mission, Austrian scientists are helping to measure the impact of solar storms on Earth's magnetic field — something that could help prevent disruptions to human technology.

The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE), a collaborative mission between the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the European Space Agency (ESA), was launched by a Vega-C rocket from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on Tuesday.

The satellite has entered the preset orbit with its solar panels deployed, marking a success for the launch mission.

The SMILE mission is China's first mission-level, comprehensive deep cooperation space science exploration mission with the European Space Agency, and also serves as the culminating mission of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Strategic Priority Program on Space Science (Phase II).

"Sometimes when the Sun is very active, you might see problems with GPS or communications," says Rumi Nakamura, a space plasma physicist at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Even power outages are possible.

Like a giant umbrella, the magnetosphere shields Earth from most of the particles the sun constantly sends its way. But sometimes the particle load is too heavy. New satellite data is now set to help predict the most dangerous solar storms.

"One type of sensor used for magnetic field measurements is a magnetometer," says Werner Magnes, head of the academy's space magnetometer group.

He and his team built hardware for SMILE's soft X-ray imager, helped calibrate the magnetometer, and will assist in processing the collected data — aiming to build a more complete understanding of the Sun-Earth connection by measuring the solar wind and its interaction with the magnetosphere.

To create a complete picture of this interaction, the team plans to combine SMILE satellite data with measurements recorded by other spacecraft.

"The SMILE picture shows us what the outer boundary of the magnetosphere looks like," Nakamura explains. "At the same time, another spacecraft is observing this region."

This allows scientists to see "for the first time what is really happening at this boundary."

It is not the first time the Austrian Academy of Sciences has contributed hardware and expertise to a China-Europe space mission.

"Our cooperation with China started more than 20 years ago with the Double Star mission, which was also a joint project between ESA and China," Magnes says.

The SMILE satellite is set to orbit Earth for the next three years. Scientists hope the data will improve future space weather forecasting.