Primary objective of SMART-1 was to flight test Solar Electric Primary Propulsion as the key technology for future deep-space missions. It was the first time that Europe has sent a spacecraft to the Moon. In addition to the use of solar electric primary propulsion, the spacecraft carries out a complete program of scientific observations in lunar orbit.
SMART-1 was launched successfully as an Ariane-5 auxiliary payload on 27 September 2003 and took 14 months to reach the Moon. Since then a number of orbit optimizations have been carried to maximize the science return from the mission.
SMART-1 underwent a controlled impact with the lunar surface on 3 September 2006. It was a very successful mission. All spacecraft subsystems were working well and had no problems until the moon impact.