ESA and China recently successfully launched the SMILE joint magnetospheric mission after ten years of collaboration. However, despite successful launch, further deep cooperation between Europe and China in space seems unlikely.
SMILE spacecraft (Researcher of the interaction of the solar wind with the magnetosphere and ionosphere) started 19 May 2026 year by the Vega-C rocket from Kuru (French Guiana). The mission entered a unique high-pass orbit over the North Pole, to observe the interaction of the Earth's magnetosphere with the solar wind using X-ray and ultraviolet imagers.
Although the launch was marked as a success, high-ranking ESA and Chinese officials have not given specific commitments on new joint projects. The main obstacle is funding. ESA Director of Science Carole Mundell said:, that both parties need to secure funding, and this is the biggest challenge.
The European and Chinese sides continue to develop parallel programs to study habitability. ESA prepares for Plato missions, Ariel, EnVision (Venus), JUICE (Jupiter) and the future mission to Enceladus. China plans to launch an Earth observatory 2.0 in 2029 year and the Tianwen-4 mission to Jupiter is close 2030 year.
As of today, there is some cooperation (data exchange, flight coordination) between ESA and China There is, зокрема щодо Юпітера, проте модель глибокої взаємодії, продемонстрована SMILE, наразі не має продовження.
Source: https://spacenews.com