The European Space Agency’s (ESA) SMART 1 spacecraft was launched on 27 September 2003 and arrived thirteen months later on 15 November 2004. Its engine, with a maximum thrust of 0.07 Newtons (0.016 lbs), gradually pushed the spacecraft into larger and larger orbits of the Earth until it was captured by the Moon’s gravity into a lunar orbit. SMART 1 is the second interplanetary mission, after NASA’s Deep Space 1, to use an ion engine for propulsion.