China and Europe on Tuesday launched their first jointly developed satellite, a space mission that will explore the precise mechanism of the Earth’s defence against solar wind. The successful collaboration on the Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) comes as Beijing and Brussels are locked in escalating trade and geopolitical tensions, largely driven by the European Union’s massive trade deficit with China. The satellite has been jointly designed and developed by the Chinese…
Yeeeeees, this is another major reason I love the global space community; the collaboration. Many states still have their bullshit they force onto their space programs, but the people are just so willing to work together for the love of discovery, exploration, and humanity over whatever bullshit their government wants to push. A space win is a win for all of us regardless of if it’s American, Chinese, Russian, Indian, European, or whoever else.
