SMILE aims to understand how the Sun controls the Earth's magnetic environment and space weather. If the initial studies are successful, the mission could be given a final decision of implementation in November 2015, with the launch expected at the end of 2021.

If launched, SMILE will monitor the solar wind and its effects on Earth for three years and will help scientists understand the chain of events leading to the disruption of satellites, power grids and radio communications. The information collected on the mission could be used to predict and mitigate the impact of future solar storms.

SMILE differs from previous missions looking at space weather as it will study what happens globally in the Earth's magnetosphere, as well as the ionosphere and aurora which are closer to Earth. This will provide more detailed information which will hopefully enable scientists to reach a complete understanding of how the Sun influences events on Earth by interacting with its magnetic environment.

Project co-lead, Professor Graziella Branduardi-Raymont (UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory), said: "During the Sun's 11 year cycle, the frequency and strength of solar flares and coronal mass ejections varies a great deal. These cause damage on Earth - most notably are geomagnetic storms resulting from strong disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field caused by the charged particles coming from the solar wind. They can disrupt technological infrastructures including orbiting GPS satellites used for communications and expose air crew and astronauts to high doses of radiation."