On 19 May 2026, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Smile spacecraft launched from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on a Vega-C rocket. Smile, short for Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer, is a joint mission between ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), designed to study how Earth’s magnetic environment responds to activity from the Sun, including the solar wind and space weather.
For Serco colleagues supporting ESA, the mission brought together two very different areas of expertise: logistics support before launch, and ground operations support after liftoff.
Jose Luis Corrales Heredia, our Logistics Service Manager based at ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in the Netherlands, spent more than three years supporting Smile’s logistics, including the journey from China to the Netherlands and on to French Guiana.
At the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Germany, Serco Network Operations Centre (NOC) Engineer Tiberius Cristian Ghinea was part of the operations management team supporting the spacecraft’s critical first phase in space, while NOC Supervisor Antonio Marin Gutierrez coordinated the wider NOC support behind the scenes.
We spoke to Jose Luis and Tiberius about what their work involved, and what happens behind the scenes of a mission like Smile.
From China to the launch pad: Jose Luis’s story
Before Smile could launch, it had to travel. Every stage of that journey carried risk. There is only one Smile spacecraft: there is no backup, no replacement, and no room for error in how it is handled, stored and transported.
Jose Luis led core coordination efforts for the Smile project’s logistics across the full journey: from China, through the Netherlands, where the spacecraft arrived at ESA’s technical centre for further preparations, and on to Kourou in French Guiana for launch.
At every stage, he worked across a wide network of stakeholders, including project leads, security officers, transport providers, customs authorities and export control bodies. His role covered export licences, dangerous goods declarations, special transport permits and road convoy approvals, helping keep a one-of-a-kind spacecraft moving safely from one continent to the next.
"Moving a one-of-a-kind scientific instrument is less about the physical transport and more about the invisible coordination behind it. Success depends on compliance, experience, lessons learned, out-of-the-box thinking, and the ability to solve problems when unexpected situations arise."
Jose Luis Corrales Heredia,
Logistics Service Manager, Serco for the European Space Agency
That ‘invisible coordination’ was central to keeping the operation on track, especially when customs issues, transport requirements or unexpected delays had to be solved quickly.
Seeing the spacecraft arrive first in the Netherlands and later in Kourou were both deeply rewarding moments, each one marking a key milestone in a long journey. After more than three years of support, watching Smile launch was, in his words, ‘a once-in-a-lifetime experience.’
Supporting the mission after launch: Tiberius’s story
Once Smile launched, the work was far from over. The mission entered what is known as the Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP), the critical window after liftoff when teams on the ground check that everything on the spacecraft is working as it should.
During LEOP, solar panels are deployed, antennas are activated, essential systems are switched on and manoeuvres may be needed to guide the spacecraft onto the right path. It is one of the most intense periods in any mission, because the spacecraft must be checked and prepared before it can move into routine operations.
For Smile, Serco’s NOC team in Germany supported this phase with specialists in systems, network and hardware, helping monitor the ground infrastructure used to communicate with the spacecraft and stepping in if issues were detected.
Tiberius was part of the operations management team, supporting ground station activities alongside ESA representatives and other partners. His involvement began months before launch day, with preparation work starting in February. This included coordinating connectivity validation campaigns with international partners, supporting Mission Readiness Tests, resolving operational limitations under time-critical conditions, and designing automation solutions that reduced configuration effort and operational risk.
In addition, Serco’s 24/7 NOC team supporting ESA’s European Space Tracking (ESTRACK) ground station network provided support during every Smile pass throughout this phase.
NOC Supervisor Antonio Marin Gutierrez, who coordinated the wider NOC support for the mission, described the objective as making sure that, at the end of LEOP, a working satellite could be handed over to the team in charge of operating it.
Smile also brought together teams from different organisations and working cultures. For Tiberius, that was part of what made the mission meaningful.
"Smile has been one of the most rewarding missions we have had the opportunity to work on. Despite the complexities and the challenges of coordinating across different cultures and organisations, it was incredibly rewarding to see so many talented people come together and turn a highly ambitious international mission into reality."
Tiberius Cristian Ghinea,
ESTRACK and Network Operations Engineer at ESOC, Serco for the European Space Agency
Services that support mission success
Jose Luis and Tiberius supported the same mission from very different sides. One helped move a unique scientific spacecraft safely across continents. The other supported the ground operations that helped carry it through its first critical phase in space.
Together, their stories are a reminder that behind every mission milestone, there is a much wider team whose work makes it possible.
For Serco, Smile reflects the kind of support its teams provide across the space sector, helping customers manage critical operational environments with dependable service delivery and specialist expertise, from logistics and stakeholder coordination to ground operations and around-the-clock mission support.